Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am glad Senator Boyle raised the issue of constructive opposition on climate change. I agree it is important and the Senator and I have exchanged correspondence regarding my Climate Protection Bill which is currently before the House. It is No. 9 on the Order Paper. The Second Stage debate is due to be resumed and I look forward to engaging with the Senator on how we can move forward on that constructively with the overall goal of reducing emissions.

Senator O'Toole mentioned a study that is widely reported in the newspapers and on the front page of today's edition of The Irish Times. It was conducted by the ESRI and the Equality Authority and confirms something of which we all are aware, namely, gender inequality in the division of labour. It shows that women routinely work an average of 39 minutes more per day than men. One striking finding is that women are working far more in unpaid work, caring and in child care. I have previously sought a debate on the issue of the division of labour and, indeed, on the representation of women in public life, which feeds into that. This is a vital matter.

I am not saying men are inadequate, although Senator O'Toole suggested that men might feel inadequate. Clearly, they are not used to multi-tasking in the same way women are. It is a subject close to my heart as I am currently multi-tasking with two very young children. This is an important matter on which the Seanad could lead the way, particularly by debating the recommendations of the study. The recommendations suggest that the answer to trying to change the culture where women continue to do more unpaid work than men while they are entering the paid workforce in larger numbers is to introduce paid paternity leave. The Seanad could lead the way by starting the debate on, and calling for, paid paternity leave. This is something I have called for on many occasions. It is important that we debate it.

In doing that we could examine the structures in the Seanad and consider making them more family friendly. Yesterday, in answer to a question from Senator Doherty, the Leader said the Seanad would sit in the second week in July. I have no problem with that and most Senators, certainly on the Opposition benches, would like the Seanad to sit more often throughout the year and do more in terms of legislative activity. However, it is difficult for Members, particularly for those with young children, to make arrangements when we do not know schedules in advance. All Members, regardless of whether they have children, would welcome an advance notification of the timetable.

I wish to pay tribute to the Oireachtas crèche, which has facilitated my attendance today. Providing a crèche in the Oireachtas is an important and good initiative but we still must make arrangements in advance as the crèche must know when we need to use it. All Members have other plans and arrangements to make so they need to know in advance, in so far as that is possible, what the Seanad timetable will be.