Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I begin my statement today by wishing everyone, particularly my female colleagues, a happy International Women's Day. As Minister with responsibility for gender equality, International Women’s Day is a significant day and a reminder of my Department’s mission of working towards “a fair, equal and inclusive society where rights are respected, and where everyone can reach their potential”.

Achieving gender equality and promoting the empowerment of women and girls are key priorities for Ireland's domestic and foreign policy, with the overarching goal of creating a fairer and more sustainable society. As a Government, we have prioritised furthering equality, whether that be online, in the workplace or in home life, and as announced this morning, we are looking to modernise our Constitution as well. Through the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality and the subsequent Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality, a clear and sharp focus has been brought on the specific measures required to advance gender equality in this country. I commend Catherine Day on her work in her role chairing the Citizens’ Assembly and Deputy Bacik on doing likewise on the Oireachtas joint committee. The Government has committed to a structured and meaningful response to all the recommendations in early course.

Significantly, this morning we announced our intention to hold referendums on Articles 40.1 and 41 of the Constitution in November of this year. Recognising that such a change is now long overdue, work will begin immediately, with proposals due before the Cabinet in May. As a Government, we remain committed to taking real and practical measures to highlight and tackle gender inequality wherever it appears in our society. This past year, as I mentioned, turned out to be a very challenging year. Nevertheless, it was also a year in which we achieved a lot to turn our commitments into action.

In 2022, for the first time, large employers were required to calculate and publish information on the gender pay gaps within their organisations. I am pleased to see employers across the private and public sectors engaging with their findings and examining the factors that contribute to their internal pay gaps. It is heartening to see exemplars of good practice already emerging. Organisations such as An Post, for example, have succeeded in addressing many of the imbalances in the representation of women and men at different levels that contribute to the existence of gender pay gaps.

My Department plans to add to the analysis already being carried out across the private sector and to undertake a study looking at the 2022 reports published. Over the coming years, these reporting obligations will be extended to organisations with more than 150, and then subsequently 50, employees. A centralised reporting database will be developed by my Department for future reporting cycles that will provide easier access to these reports and easier comparison of employers’ gender pay gap metrics across sectors and over time.

As Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, I am committed to supporting parents to have a work-life balance. We have continued over the past year to enhance the provision of family leave, both paid and unpaid. Since coming into office, paid parental leave has been extended from two weeks to seven weeks, and it is Government’s intention to extend it again later this year. The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022, which passed all Stages in the Seanad last week, will provide, when enacted, for a right to request flexible working and leave for medical care purposes, and extend the entitlement to breastfeeding breaks under the Maternity Protection Acts to two full years.

Additionally, the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 will support women returning to work after maternity leave by extending the timeframe for breastfeeding breaks from the current six months to two years. As anyone who has taken up their full maternity leave will know, this has meant that a right that has existed in theory on the books has been accessible for many women. Extending breastfeeding breaks to two years, therefore, will be a significant step forward. Earlier this week I had the honour to lead Ireland’s delegation to the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which opened this year on 6 March and continues until 17 March. The priority theme for the Commission this year is “Innovation and technological changes and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls”. We cannot discuss the gender disparities present in the digital world without acknowledging the need for online spaces to be made safe for women and girls and the need to stamp out online gender-based violence and harassment.

Colleagues and other women in public life have spoken of the violence and harassment they face online, in particular the very personal abuse to which they are subjected. The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 has criminal sanctions that are among the most severe in the European Union for online abuse. New offences with enhanced penalties for hate crimes are proposed in the hate crime and hate speech Bill published last October by the Minister for Justice. This will mean certain types of crimes can be prosecuted where they are motivated by misogyny. As we know, the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022, when enacted, will also provide for paid domestic violence leave.

I cannot speak on International Women’s Day without acknowledging all the women who are experiencing conflict and displacement at this time. Gender inequality and violence against women is an issue that permeates borders. The violence women are experiencing internationally and the bravery they are demonstrating in the midst of such conflict must be acknowledged. Ireland has consistently worked to empower and amplify the voices of women and is a long-standing champion of the UN Women, Peace and Security Agenda, not only in our development co-operation but domestically as well. In the past 12 months, Ireland has continued to welcome people seeking protection from conflict.

In the year that has passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian women and girls are at a heightened risk of trafficking and human rights abuses. In addition, they are facing rising poverty levels due to the loss of their livelihoods. More than 70,000 Ukrainian nationals have arrived on our shores, the majority of whom are women and children.

I wish to restate Ireland's firm commitment to assisting those fleeing here, whether from Ukraine or elsewhere.

When I was in New York in recent days at an event hosted by the Church World Service, I had the opportunity to meet with the Women's Forum on Afghanistan, a body of former politicians and female leaders from Afghanistan who are advocating for strong action to be taken against the Taliban. They recognise the strong role that Irish permanent representatives at the UN took to ensure that sanctions against significant figures within the Taliban regime were not diluted, as had been argued for by some western states. What was particularly interesting to hear from these women was their description of the efforts by the Taliban to undertake the complete erasure of women from public life, denying access to education and employment. The way in which this has been done is different to when the Taliban first came to power. It has been done more subtly and there has been a steady drip-drip to try to avoid the public gaze. This group of women very much want to continue to place the public gaze and the international gaze on what is happening in Afghanistan. It is important that we do so on a day like today. We see what is happening in Afghanistan and Iran in terms of the denial of women's rights. In Ireland, in the context of international protection, we are seeing an increase in the number of people fleeing here from Afghanistan, Iran and many other countries where conflict involves an intensely gendered element.

I look forward over the coming year to continuing to work with Deputies on all sides of the House to keep up the momentum to advance gender equality, and to deliver on the promise of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and on the excellent work done by the Joint Committee on Gender Equality.

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