Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle very much. As we celebrate International Women's Day, I am thinking of the women and children fleeing war in Ukraine. We are all thinking and praying for Racheal Diyaolu who will hopefully be out of the country as soon as possible.

We must also think of those who have fled war in the Middle East and in Africa.

I am thinking of women who flee violence in their own home and I am grateful for the hard work that is under way to put a refuge for County Carlow on the priority list. I know that this comes from working locally with all of the stakeholders, the victims, and the local authority. We must do all we can to keep women safe and if today shows us anything, it shows us that women's refuges are so important. We need to put timescales on their provision and I have been contacting the Minister on the timescale for Carlow. It is important that every one of the nine counties that does not have a refuge is provided with one.

When we open our doors, as we absolutely should to refugees, we must ensure that we have the correct information and the proper support and facilities. We need to do that and it must be a priority for us. I sat on a committee today to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022 and we debated just last week the Institutional Burials Bill in the House. I reflect on the courage and conviction of survivors of mother and baby homes in their continuing search for truth, justice and answers. I thank them for all of their work to date in pushing for accountability at every level.

Legislation such as this provides space for amendments to be made. I have called for redress for all who were in mother and baby homes, I have called for fast-track medical cards and I have joined others in voicing survivors' needs, not just on International Women's Day but every day.

On a day such as this, it is great that we can have this conversation about how we can be more inclusive and more equal, and how to try to make the world a better place for women and children. That is important. Fianna Fáil has a long history of supporting gender equality. Today, it was announced that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage along with Women for Election will create a data hub with historical and real-time information to show the participation of women in political life since the foundation of the State. That is very welcome. All of us will agree that we need to make sure we are there and that women are remembered and talked about. In the 2020 general election, 31% of the candidates were female. I encourage all women to get involved with politics, whether it is in their community on parents' associations or community committees or running for election.

Although the EU has been moving towards gender equality at a snail's pace, Ireland ranked seventh in the EU on the gender equality index. Gender inequalities are most pronounced in the domain of power in which Ireland ranks tenth. Despite improving since 2010, Ireland is furthest away from gender equality in political decision-making. If women are not at the table, they cannot shape policy. I am a firm believer that women at the table can make a major difference. We work hard and we multitask, but that divide is definitely there. We need to ensure that we conquer it. The 32nd Government of Ireland includes just four women as Ministers in the Cabinet. Eleven Ministers are men. There are five female Ministers of State, but there are 16 male Ministers of State. We need to look at women as Ministers, and to look at women across all boards. We can do more, because we have so much to offer. It is great that we can highlight this today because it is so important. Almost half of Finland's parliamentarians are women, yet in Ireland only 22.5% of Deputies are women. We have a great deal of work to do, and all of us together have a part to play.

I hope all women had a lovely day today. We just need to do more. All of us have a duty of care to women. We must make sure we put no obstacles in their way, encourage women to be inclusive in what they want to do and make sure they know they can make the change. We can do that.

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