I hope today, 28 May, will be an historic day for maternity protection in this country. We have moved considerably from Ireland of the past. In the times of the Vikings and Norsemen there were invaders who killed and raped our fathers, sons and mothers. During the Famine, mothers starved themselves to feed the family first. In the "modern Ireland" up to 1972 there was a marriage bar. Contraception was not available and it was necessary to get on a train and travel to Northern Ireland to buy a packet of condoms. Then we made some great changes and it was possible to go to a doctor and get them on prescription. We did not have equal pay until the 1970s. Although some people are beginning to break through it, the glass ceiling still exists. In 1984 maternity leave was introduced.