John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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It is right and proper that we acknowledge International Women's Day in this House, and statements are the appropriate way to do that. Some Members have doubts about that but I think it causes us to pause in what is normally a busy schedule in politics and to reflect on a particular issue. It allows us to give our own opinions as to how far we have come and whether we have advanced any further than last year or ten years ago or whatever, and then to look to the future and see how we can improve things at a faster pace than what has been experienced over the last few years.

The Minister referred to Sr. Stan, a renowned Kerrywoman. Sr. Stan spent most of her life in Kilkenny, working hard on reform. She helped with reform of the church with Dr. Peter Birch and had a huge impact on the views I now hold.

I refer to the speakers from Sinn Féin, Deputies Joanna Byrne and Natasha Newsome Drennan. It was nice to see them passionately refer to their past, their mothers and the influence they had on the role in life that both have now found themselves in. Like them, my mother influenced me but perhaps it was long after her death that I realised the value of her input into my life and how she instilled in me the social conscience that I have and the backbone to stand up and fight for those who are less well-off and those who are marginalised.

I would love to see a lot of action follow on from the statements here in this House and I would like to point my suggestions to the Members of this House. We have now made history in that we have a female Ceann Comhairle and we had a female Leas-Cheann Comhairle in the previous Dáil. That is a reflection of some of the change that is happening, but how are we towards the Ceann Comhairle? How were we towards the Leas-Cheann Comhairle? What I witness here on the Order of Business is nothing but disrespect from a lot of Members and I think there is time to pause and consider-----

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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Do not treat us differently than men. The Ceann Comhairle is well able for it.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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-----how we interact with someone who holds office and is interested in change-----

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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That is embarrassing.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy McGuinness please, without interruption.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Perhaps the Deputies would have respect for me. I listened very carefully to them.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I have not spoken.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I strongly believe that in this House we have to lead by example, regardless of how we feel about each other politically. Looking back on my career, in my years on Kilkenny Corporation I was influenced by the likes of Margaret Tynan, who was a trailblazer in her own way and encouraged women to stand for politics, Evelyn White, Carmel Boyd and other strong characters who formed policy at local level, were constructive and blazed a trail.

I also wish to emphasise the changes that we could bring about with regard to mental health and the care of women, or the care of women generally in the whole area of health. I have listened carefully to older people who found themselves in hospital, particularly women in mixed wards. They find it extremely difficult. They would prefer an alternative or to go back to the way it was. We need to consider the views and feelings of people who have a concern and are in a vulnerable position. The same can be said in respect of general hospitals and psychiatric hospitals. We have a responsibility to listen and to change the circumstances so that everyone can feel comfortable.

I wonder how the State feels - I will mention it again, as I do regularly in the House - about the family of Shane O'Farrell and how the State treated Lucia O'Farrell, a woman concerned about the death of her son, a woman who has campaigned continuously since that death and has shown that within the DPP, the Department of Justice and the Garda changes can be made. Did anyone within the system - I know a lot of Members did so - reach out to her to say, "Can we learn from you? Can you give us that mother's experience of the awful death of your son and how things can change?"

Did we learn from the thalidomide group who came before us in many forums here in Leinster House? They are still waiting for the State to acknowledge and compensate them. No, we did not. There is no decision in respect of their case. There is also the ongoing case involving Lois West and the Garda. We do not reach out to people who have something to say and give the opportunity not only for them to articulate what happened to them but to inform us of the changes that are needed. In Tusla, there is a huge amount of change needed in the context of instances where women feel they are treated badly. These are a few of the issues I believe could be addressed in a meaningful way to impact on the lives of women. The sooner we put action to our words, the better.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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As north Kildare's only female TD, I am delighted to speak on International Women's Day as a member of Sinn Féin, a party that champions women and holds them to the same standard and regard as our male colleagues. We do not expect to be treated differently - just the same, thanks.

I have always said that a woman's place is in the revolution, be that here sa bhaile, sa Phalaistín nó fud fad na cruinne. From Constance Markievicz to Mairéad Farrell, whose anniversary it is today - suaimhneas síoraí di - tá mná i stair na hÉireann tar éis spreagadh mór a thabhairt dom. Is trua é nach bhfuil an oiread sin ban le feiceáil sa Teach seo.

This Dáil has the lowest proportion of female parliamentarians in western Europe, and it really is embarrassing. Some 25% of TDs are women, compared with the 37% average across Europe. Sinn Féin, however, stands as the only large party that runs women in winnable seats and nearly 40% of our TDs are women.

Most women do not like the gender quota. We know that we have got here on merit, and I certainly would not vote for a woman from a centrist or right-wing party, but quotas are very much necessary in this State. Sinn Féin managed to achieve 50-50 representation in the North without any gender quota legislation, so when there is a will, there is a way.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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The same cannot be said for the likes of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, but particularly Fianna Fáil. With just seven women elected out of 48 Fianna Fáil TDs, it is the worst party when it comes to gender balance. What must it be to be a woman in Fianna Fáil and manage to get elected? I do not know but I imagine they would be as good as any of their male counterparts. I have noticed that only the member of the Cabinet spoke here today. All the other Fianna Fáil women left, and I hope they left in protest.

It is important that there are more women in politics.

Mary Lou McDonald referenced the 8.3% rise in domestic abuse calls received by An Garda Síochána last year. In Kildare, we saw a staggering 25% increase in those calls, up 661 to 3,279 in 2024. Reporting of domestic violence is something I always insisted was on the agenda of the JPCs at our meetings in Kildare County Council, but since the local elections last year, JPCs have not been in operation. Dublin City Council, it is worth mentioning, is still holding its JPCs, to its credit. In Kildare, however, we are still waiting on the establishment of the local community safety partnerships that are set to replace the JPCs. As one of the three James' who equal the number of women in Cabinet, I urge the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to reconvene the joint policing committees while we are waiting for the Government to establish local community safety partnerships in order that we have a bit of accountability on the domestic violence that goes on in my county.

We all have to do our bit for mná na hÉireann. Is ar scáth a chéile a mhairimid.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Well said.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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On this occasion of marking International Women's Day, I wish all the very best to mná na hÉireann, and to women across the world. Despite this being the second quarter of the 21st century, we have so many issues that still need to be resolved. It is absolutely shocking. It needs to be called out at any level. Obviously, women are well able to do it for themselves, but there is a litany of abuses in Ireland and beyond that need to be referenced, so I will refer to some of them now.

We have a situation still ongoing in Ireland where workplace discrimination and sexual harassment remain concerns. We have the ongoing gender pay gap and workplace inequality. Women in Ireland still earn less than men on average, with a gender pay gap of approximately 12%. Childcare costs and work-life balance make it more difficult for women to return to work. Of course, women take a disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work, as we know.

Gender-based violence was referenced last week. It is appalling. I will not go into it again, but what else can we do to make Ireland a safer place? In terms of political representation, women in Ireland remain underrepresented. It is interesting that independent female candidates are among the lowest participation levels. There is a systemic problem that we have to look at. There are also housing and economic challenges, particularly for single mothers, and the online abuse and harassment that generally tends to be focused more on women.

Internationally, I could list a litany of countries where abuses occur towards women, be it India, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan or the despotic regime in Iran. Today, however, I will specifically focus on what is happening in Afghanistan, where women are now not even allowed to speak in public. They are treated as subhuman in that country. I know it is run by a fundamentalist regime, and we know the issues there, but at Irish governmental, EU and UN level, we need to be doing more to call these abuses of fundamental human rights out.

I also raise the fact that men need to call out misogyny more, including the types of - I referred to this during the motion on gender-based violence as well - behaviour that some of the online media influencers carry out that is influencing our teenagers. Equally, it needs to be called out at the highest levels of politics, where we have someone in the White House who abuses women. He is a muppet of President Putin who trash talks women, whereas his only claim is that he was once caricaturised as a piece of trash muppet on "Sesame Street". Then we have his sidekick who dislikes women who have no children and who like cats. That is the level of example we are being set from the shining example for the world. They have to be called out at any time. I would say this to President Trump or any of his misogynistic colleagues: treat women fairly and treat women well. In Ireland, we are not perfect, but we recognise an abuser when we see one. He needs to be called out whether he likes it or not.

I am not going to give any more time to that individual. This is a day for celebrating all the contributions that women in Ireland have done over many years. It was great to see Deputies pointing out the progress that had been made and the contributions of women to Irish society and the world. However, we also need to remember that there is more work that needs to be done.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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It is International Women's Day. It is also endometriosis awareness month. Endometriosis is a hugely debilitating disease. Women who experience this disease often have crippling pain, fatigue, loss of body confidence and the inability to work, play sport or participate in hobbies for many days at various different times of the month. In fact, this disease affects one in ten women. There are more women who suffer from this disease than there are sufferers of diabetes. Despite this huge level of people and women who suffer, many suffer in silence. They suffer in silence because there is a huge lack of information, and we have no national framework to deal with this disease.

As a result of this vacuum of information, GPs often do not have the tools and the referral pathways to effectively treat their patients. In some cases, the pill is prescribed, and that has a positive impact around the women's symptoms, but the consequence and flipside of this is that is actually has a masking effect. As a result of this masking effect, oftentimes women in this country only realise they have endometriosis later in life in their thirties when they wish to start families, etc. This delayed diagnosis has a significant impact on fertility for many women. It is unacceptable.

Deputies, please. If I could finish.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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We can all hear you, do not worry.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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It is unacceptable that women in their thirties have to wait so long for a proper diagnosis. It is unfair and wrong. A total of 44% of women undergoing IVF are actually silent sufferers of endometriosis. We must address this. We need to ensure that the national framework happens. The Endometriosis Association of Ireland is doing great work, but right now there is no pathway and it is causing major difficulties.

We need to ensure that we have a national framework. The framework should address issues regarding education, awareness, a pathway referral system for GPs and specialists who are trained in dealing with this. Many women are actually going abroad to access treatment because we do not have any significant facilities in this country. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that the framework happens and that it happens in a speedy fashion because it is unacceptable that women have to wait until they are well into their thirties in some cases before they realise and are diagnosed with this disease.

I also raise the issue of the means test. By and large, it is the women of Ireland who do the bulk of caring - caring for children who may have disabilities, for elderly parents, etc. - and it is incredibly unfair on these women who have to give up their work, oftentimes their social lives as well, that they do not receive a cent from the State for doing amazing work for their families and great work for our community, work that has a huge economic benefit as well. These women are means tested off the strength of their husband's salaries. That is unfair and it predominantly affects women in this country. I ask the Minister to please remove the means test for carers, address the issues in endometriosis and ensure that we have a national framework for sufferers.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am very glad to be able to make a contribution to the statements on International Women's Day.

It is important to recognise the extent to which women contribute, despite the fact that it is more and more difficult for them to contribute, at whatever level it might be. What is also important about these statements is that it is not an opportunity to score political points. I am disappointed that Deputy Réada Cronin chose this opportunity, instead of talking about the actual issues, to start to make political attacks. If Sinn Féin Deputies choose to do that, they should mend their own house first. If they want to talk about how comfortable parties are for women, let us look at how complaints within parties are dealt with when they come from women speaking about how they have been treated.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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That would be deadly.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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That would be great. We are waiting for Deputy Ward's leader to come in and explain what is going on in his party.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Instead of selectively and smugly choosing statistics to show how wonderful they are, look at actually-----

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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One second. We have had a debate here without interruption from all sides and all parties, both Government and Opposition.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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We are very bold. We are sorry.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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The only Members who have repeatedly commented since I sat in this chair are Deputies Cronin and Devine.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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We are extremely sorry for annoying people.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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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.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Jimmy Stynes was a great footballer. He was one of the first sportsmen in Ireland to go to Australia and play Australian rules football. He is the late Jimmy Stynes, I regret to say. He was a neighbour of mine. My claim to fame is that I played a bit of football with him when I was a juvenile. Why am I mentioning him? When I was seven, eight or nine, his mum had a company car. She worked for a company and it was unheard of for a woman to have that kind of position when I was young and to have a company car. It was exceptional. I just came from a meeting this morning with Dervla McKay, who is managing director of Go-Ahead. It would not have been countenanced or envisaged 30 or 40 years ago. I say that to explain the progress that has been made by women. It is clearly not enough. Mrs. Stynes, the late Jimmy's mother, always stood out in my head as being remarkable in our locality, where there were many sales representatives who had company cars, but she was alone among women.

I come from a family where I had three brothers and three sisters. My mother earned more than my father, which was quite unusual at the time. She was a working woman. She was a teacher and she became a principal teacher. My father was a milkman with Premier Dairies and he did a lot of the caring roles, the school runs, the lunches and all of that kind of stuff. I grew up in a house where there were strong women, where equality was just absorbed as a process of osmosis, and the notion that women should be thwarted in any shape or form would have been alien to me. The notion that women were equal, that my sisters were equal and that my mother was an exceptionally hardworking woman who imparted a capacity for hard work among all of us was a key part of the genetic make-up.

The constituents I meet, particularly about special needs education and disability, are very often women, who are in those advocacy and representative roles, fighting the corner, fighting for additional needs and for additional resources for their children and loved ones. It is not lost on me as a public representative that it is predominantly women who fight that fight. There are still dinosaurs around. During the general election, I knocked on a door. A young woman answered the door and we were chatting away. Her partner came out and was clearly very unhappy that she was engaging with anybody at the door. He said, "That is great, thank you" and shut the door. I went away wondering how that particular episode continued and ended. I suspect it was physical and violent. It was the impression I was left with.

A number of advances have been made. Deputy Ward mentioned Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. I was a member of South Dublin County Council for 16 years. I promoted women, including those who were co-opted in my place, and was successful in recruiting women who had never been members of Fianna Fáil who went on to contest elections for Fianna Fáil and were elected for Fianna Fáil. We made a contribution to South Dublin County Council in that it is now the only local authority in the country which has a majority of women in the council chamber. That is quite an advance and one I am proud of.

One of the issues that came to me as a politician recently, which I raised with the Minister for Social Protection and his predecessor, is the means testing of certain allowances. There are still dinosaurs of men who withhold money from their spouses and control the finances in the house, so the notion that a woman has no pension entitlement of her own and therefore is utterly reliant on her spouse for any form of income or support is something that we need to look at.

In public service, I notice that 50% of our ambassadors are women. I am a regular annual visitor to the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, although it is no longer BT. I thank BT for its service to young scientists in Ireland.

There have been more girls than boys participating in recent years. I think of Ashlee Keogh and Aimee Keogh from Tallaght Community School in my constituency. It is their third year and they won a prize this year. I think of how girls participating in STEM subjects were well behind boys a decade ago but they are catching up. That is not by accident but because of Government policy and Government investment in women, in particular young women.

I have a lot more to say, particularly on women's health and the advances made there, but I have run out of time. I thank the Chair for his forbearance.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I should express deep sorrow at being an upstart and upsetting the men in the Chamber but, let us remember, well-behaved women are rarely heard or achieve equality. I enjoy acknowledging women’s day but I am a bit of a begrudger at times. I love to celebrate and enjoy our sisters, daughters, mothers, aunties, nieces and gal-pals every day of the year, and I enjoy the recognition of this one day of 365, but I am also quite weary. I am weary because little seems to improve. Given the current general political atmosphere and the turn to the right and neofascism in some arenas, we may be moving backwards. We remain underpaid in the office and we are not promoted at the same rate as our male colleagues in business but we are expected to nimbly step through society’s carefully-----

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of order, can the Deputy name one neofascist in this Chamber?

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is neofascism across the world. Does the Deputy not think the world has become-----

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Can the Deputy name one neofascist in this Chamber?

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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You do if you want to. I think we know who we are talking about. I will talk about them later on, if the Deputy does not mind. Please do not interrupt me.

We remain underpaid in the office and we are not promoted at the same rate as our superior male colleagues, but we are expected to nimbly step through society’s carefully choreographed dance routine of what a woman should and should not be. Saying the words proclaiming that you want to work towards equality is not the same as working towards equality or enacting equality. I do not want International Women’s Day freebies in shops, annual praise or annual articles on women’s achievement without taking actual meaningful steps forward. It must begin now.

For all our achievements and sisterhood, in the blink of an eye, a single man’s words or actions can remind us that we are not equal and might never be. Here is a reality check: sexual harassment will affect four of every five women. The reality is that we are going backwards on equality. The worldwide current climate is veering towards embracing the “back in the box with you” mentality. Sexual harassment is perpetrated by powerful and influential men, with relative impunity: think Trump, Musk and England’s Andrew. Women continue to be burdened with 76% of all unpaid care work worldwide. Power and decision-making remain in the hands of men, who still hold three quarters of the world’s parliamentary seats and management positions. Granted, more women are visible around the table but the reality is that decision-making is a “real” man’s game.

Sex trafficking is very real and, in some cases, is rewarded. We need only reference the Tate brothers welcomed by the US Government last week. Rape and sexual assault continue to be wielded as a weapon against women. The image of strutting, preening MMA personalities is nauseating.

Are women central to every organisation, every company and everything for just one day? Forgive me if I do not bake my own cake for the day. We are important to every aspect of society. We are not an afterthought for a single day of events and celebrations. Equality and rights are not a choice; they are an imperative. Challenging the status quo is not a choice; it is a duty. Equality benefits all of society but if we do not have a seat at the table, then we are on the menu.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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I have enjoyed all of the contributions, including those I sat in for and those I heard on the television. I hope that everybody has an enjoyable day on Saturday, 8 March. I will keep my contribution simple and maybe go back to basics.

We should all be feminists because being a feminist means believing that women and men are equal and deserve equal rights. That phrase “We should all be feminists” is not entirely mine. I have plagiarised it as it is the title of an excellent first book by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In her book, she recommends that we must raise our daughters differently but we must also raise our sons differently, and, indeed, I commend Deputy Barry Ward on his contribution. If we do that, this will produce a fairer world. It will be a world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves.

I will give a small work example from my previous career as a county councillor. In the emergency accommodation figures for Meath County Council that we got each month, the highest category of those seeking emergency accommodation was those experiencing marital breakdown. If we crosscheck that with Accord research, the primary reasons are responsibility for household tasks and the division of that, responsibility for childcare and financial reasons. For all of those reasons, and how they are apportioned out, we should all be feminists. If we do that, we will have a fairer world. If we start very simply, start in the home and raise our daughters and sons differently, perhaps we will achieve equality.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this topic. I think of my late mother, Mary, who reared nine of us, six boys and three girls. She was a powerful woman who instilled all of the values that I carry with me today. Indeed, I think of people like Carrie Acheson, iar-Teachta Dála, who was here for a short time in the 1980s. She was a powerful woman and a visionary. I think of Helen Ní Craith, a wonderful visionary who decided to build a naoínra in my little village of Caisleáin Nua. I was delighted to be able to assist. It is now a flourishing institution where the daltaí óga, from the cradle up to five years of age, in their early childhood years, are learning through the medium of Irish. It is a wonderful institution. I think of Úna Ó Murchú, bean chéile le Labhrás, iar-Seanadóir agus stiúrthóir of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, and people like that.

I think of people today like Tina Barrett of Cahir and Samantha Bray of Ardfinnan. They are two women who are fighting heroic battles to try to get school places for their children because both have a child with special needs. Why should this be? Each year, all of us in the House deal with these cases. They are fighting, fighting, fighting. It is so unfair to those people. Tina Barrett and her husband, and Samantha Bray and her family, have to agonise and have to be on Facebook or out lobbying, like the women who came up last week to the Department with their children. People who have children with special needs should be looked after. I think of Cara Darmody losing her childhood campaigning for services for her two brothers who have profound autism. That should not be in this world today.

I must praise my own wife for putting up with me for all of these years - 41 years now. We have five daughters and three sons, and 13 beautiful grandchildren, including two in the past two months, and ten of them are little angels, or little baby girls. We are blessed to have them all. How privileged I am to live in such a society.

Politics is going backwards, however. The debate today and the rancour here are not very nice. I see the latest political party, Independent Ireland. When they were trying to get their grubby hands on finances to fund their party, they put up token ladies, four of them in all. They just put up names and registered them as candidates. That is an insult and an abuse of women, as far as I am concerned, and it should not be happening. Is that the kind of politics we are going to have just to gain political funding because they have to have a quota? I never agreed with the quota system in the first place but to think that Deputy Collins, as leader, would do that with his own sister and, indeed, his own partner, and others as well just to get political funding.

Then, they do not think of stopping our speaking rights here. My colleague who has just spoken so eloquently and Deputy Carol Nolan are two female members of our group and they were denied speaking rights. When dishing out the compliments and praise, think of what they are trying to do to silence other female colleagues in this party.

That also goes for Sinn Féin and Labour, given the way they treated the Ceann Comhairle, our newly-elected female Member, on the first day of the Dáil. It was shameful.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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There was an exchange a few moments ago relating to Deputy Devine's contribution. To clarify that everything that was said was allowable under Standing Orders, I just asked for advice on foot of the Deputy's request to me as Chair.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am sorry Deputy Lahart has left the Chamber. He took it up that I meant in this Chamber but had he listened to what I had said, it would not have been-----

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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And look-----

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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If anything-----

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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-----it is perfectly allowable-----

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----he should apologise. Is there nothing there? No, okay.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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We will proceed to the Government slot.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank speakers for their contributions today to this very important debate, which both celebrates and highlights the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women not just in Ireland but across the globe and highlights the challenges to achieving gender equality. International Women's Day has been celebrated since 1911. The theme for this year is accelerate action. It speaks volumes that despite women playing a full role in every aspect of Irish life, gender inequality continues to be persist and that we must once again strive for further action in this space.

Gender equality should not be an insurmountable goal but rather the real lived reality for all women across Ireland. The Government is committed to taking action to promote gender equality recognising the importance of ensuring that women of all ages get the same opportunity as men to achieve their potential and contribute to society. While progress has been made, challenges remain. Women are more likely than men to live in consistent poverty. Fewer women than men hold the most highly paid jobs. More women than men have a disability. While more Irish women go on to third-level education than men, when they finish their education and enter the workforce, they are not paid as well. The gender pay gap in Ireland stands at just over 9%. This means the average man earns 9% more than the average woman.

That said, progress has been made. We are investing more in women's healthcare and in tackling domestic and gender-based violence. A number of employment benefits have been introduced, including enhancements to maternity, paternity and parents' and adoptive benefit. Women have made significant strides in education with a surge in the number of young women taking up STEM subjects. The Government has taken a number of actions to support women's access to and progression in the workplace, including through legislation to support flexible working arrangements. The Government has also made a substantial investment in subsidised childcare and will work over the coming years to further reduce the cost for working families.

Members will be aware of the Government's commitment to focusing on disability and disability services and ensuring that all citizens are assisted in reaching their full potential and contributing to society. The programme for Government also commits to delivering and fully resourcing a national disability strategy, which is being developed. This builds on and cements a commitment in the last programme for Government to develop an implementation plan for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. My officials are at a very advanced stage in the development of the strategy and publication is expected in the coming months. The next national disability strategy will operate as a framework for the co-ordination of disability policy across Government ensuring a whole-of-government approach to the advancement of the UNCRPD and collaboration on cross-cutting issues, including that of gender equality and the rights of women with disabilities. A key consideration for actions mooted under this strategy will be the additional difficulties that can arise for disabled people who may experience multiple forms of disadvantage or discrimination where being disabled overlaps with other aspects of their lives such as being from a minority ethnic community, their social class or indeed their gender. In maintaining this focus, the consultation process for the strategy has included targeted engagement with a range of stakeholders representing seldom heard from or otherwise marginalised groups, including those representing the perspective of disabled women and girls.

Care is a fundamental element of our society. We must acknowledge that women remain disproportionately responsible for unpaid care work and are overrepresented in lower-paid roles in the care sector. The programme for Government lays out actions to be taken to support such women - those who have caring responsibilities, those who work in care-related areas and women who have additional needs and find themselves in need of care. The Government is committed to increasing the income disregards for carer's allowance over its term with the ultimate goal of phasing out the means test completely. A number of workplace supports were introduced by the last Government aimed at supporting men and women with caring responsibilities. The work life balance Act made provision for the right to request flexible working for parents and carers and the right to request remote work for all employees to further support working families and those with caring responsibilities. The Act also brought five days of unpaid leave for medical care purposes for carers and parents. The programme for Government also commits to looking at additional workplace flexibility that could be introduced along with an extension to the current parents' leave and benefit entitlements.

As the Minister, Deputy Foley, mentioned in her opening statement, this year is the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on gender equality. Since the last review, notable progress has been made. A new architecture has been put in place to address domestic and gender-based violence with the establishment of the new statutory agency Cuan to lead work in this area.

Reforms have also been introduced to the State pension system to give recognition to those whose work history includes an extended period of time outside the paid workplace. There has also been significant progress in the area of women's health, including the introduction of the free contraception scheme, the opening of specialist menopause clinics and fertility hubs. Ireland also submitted its response to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in November 2024 and in June, the committee will hold an in-person review of Ireland's record under the UN convention. We expect that the committee will put a focus on the diversity of women and the intersecting challenges they face.

As we all know, progress on women's rights is neither a straight road nor an easy one. As politicians, we must remember that we also have a role. As Minister of State with responsibility for disability, I am looking forward to the year ahead and working with Deputies from all sides of the House and colleagues across Departments to continue our momentum in delivering on progress towards gender equality, in particular for women and girls with disabilities. Progress in this area will benefit us all.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Lahart wanted to make a remark in response to Deputy Devine.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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In the course of Deputy Devine's contribution, I incorrectly understood or misinterpreted her as referring to people on this side of the House or in the Chamber. I have known her for a long time. We were colleagues on South Dublin County Council and I understand that nothing she said was not allowable under Standing Orders so I apologise unreservedly for that and I hope she accepts that it was said in the spirit of the debate.