Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious, as I think we all are, that this is the Tánaiste's last Leaders' Questions in his current role. I want to bring to his attention the publication just this morning of the final report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality, which I had the honour of chairing. Our report is entitled Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality. What we have set out to do in this report is devise an action plan for the implementation of the 45 recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality, which amount to a blueprint for achieving a truly gender-equal Ireland. At the launch this morning, we saw the audiovisual room packed with stakeholders, civil society groups, academics and many of those who engaged with us and indeed many members of the citizen's assembly. I expressed our thanks as a committee to the assembly, to Dr. Catherine Day who chaired the assembly and to all the stakeholders who engaged with us.

What we heard from those present was a real desire to see the report implemented, to see the actions we recommended taken up by the Government and progressed over the coming term. There are some clear measures there that need to be acted upon urgently.

I am seeking from the Tánaiste and his Government a commitment on recommendations 1 to 3 of the citizens' assembly. Those recommendations relate to constitutional change, both to the equality guarantee in Article 40.1 of the Constitution, to make it more inclusive and refer specifically to gender equality, and crucial changes to Article 41 of the Constitution, that is, the family article. The citizens' assembly asked us to do three things with Article 41, namely, take out the gendered language that currently refers to women and mothers as having lives and duties within the home; create a more inclusive definition and protection for care within the Constitution; and extend the definition of family beyond the current narrow definition based on marriage.

In our work, hearings and deliberations, the committee devised a single set of wording to be put to the people by way of referendum that would achieve the desires of the Citizens' Assembly and create a more inclusive and more equal document. It is probably the first time an Oireachtas committee has devised wording for the Constitution. We were able to do so through the extensive consultation and engagement we have had, particularly with the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and other Ministers, including the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, on the idea of a constitutional referendum. We are all very conscious that there has been a number of false starts on this referendum. There have been previous attempts to delete the gendered or sexist language from the text but they have come to nothing because there has not been a cross-party or cross-civil society consensus on this. We have come a long way towards achieving that. Will the Government commit to holding a referendum on those three recommendations in 2023, as all members of our committee have asked?

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