Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was going to say that laws that are brought in to encourage female participation in politics and gender quotas have definitely achieved results, but they have not addressed the issues that discourage women from getting involved in politics. In that regard, I would much rather see us pursue positive, progressive policies that make it easier for people from every walk of life to get involved in politics and to make it less difficult for them to contribute at that level. In that regard, we definitely have a great deal of work to do.

I am lucky that in my own party and constituency, we have a balanced situation. The two Fine Gael TDs from Dún Laoghaire represent each side of the gender divide. Equally, our councillors do too. I think Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was the first local authority in the country to achieve gender balance. I remember a couple of years ago, on International Women's Day, trumpeting the fact that of six councillors in Blackrock, I was the only man. I put a tweet out about that. My Fianna Fáil colleague at the time, Councillor Kate Feeney, commented that I was the only man she knew who managed to make International Women's Day about him. It was not my intention but I wanted to acknowledge that we have that policy. We have many strong, powerful women who work in our communities at a political level in Dún Laoghaire and Blackrock.

I acknowledge that I would not be here without the support of the women in my life. My wife, Aoife, who previously worked in politics, but no longer does, is one of the people who helped me to get here. I would not have won a seat in the election last year without the benefit of her counsel, advice and ideas about how we can approach issues as they come before us. Equally, I benefitted from growing up in a household where I had two sisters and a mother who worked and contributed. My mother, in the early 1980s, set up a business in Dalkey with her friend. It was rare to have two women set up a business and be self-employed at that time. In our household, that paved the way for us to understand that there should always be equality of opportunity. When we look at statements in the context of International Women's Day, I think women in Ireland today lack that equality of opportunity. Whatever stumbling block you choose to identify, the reality for my friends, colleagues and family who are women in Ireland is that there is always something that makes it more difficult for them to achieve the same thing that I might want to achieve, more difficult to get to the same position that I am in as a man or more difficult for them to take whatever path it is.

We as an Oireachtas, community, Government and State have to work towards eliminating those stumbling blocks and towards a situation where the pathway for people, irrespective of what their sex is, is clear and there is not the discrimination between sexes that we know exists. On International Women's Day, we should all take a step, because the responsibility lies with all of us. I do not just mean TDs. I mean all of us as a society. I particularly direct this at my fellow males. We must all take responsibility.

The thing that comes home to me most acutely is those of us in a domestic setting. I mentioned my wife. We have a little girl who is the light of our lives but I want her to be able to grow up in a country where she has the same opportunity as her male friends and cousins to do what she wants to do. That is not going to happen unless all of us take responsibility for making sure it happens. Men in the home is perhaps the most obvious example of where we need to share the burdens that exist in the household. We need to take responsibility for what needs to be done. I hope I do that but I know that I can always do more to lighten the load of my wife and friends throughout Ireland. On International Women's Day, my commitment is that, as a Member of this House, I will pursue policies that advance the rights of women and also the equality of opportunity for women.

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