Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

Consider issues like anorexia, an issue that my good colleague, Senator Feeney, has been raising since the beginning of this Seanad, and domestic violence. The Minister of State with responsibility for children is not a full Minister despite the fact he should be. During the reshuffle, which, please God, will be soon, I call on the Taoiseach to consider creating a full Ministry for children. The area badly needs one. Given the suffering, stress, hardship and significant issues with which the Minister of State must deal, his should be a full Ministry. This matter is worthy of debate.

These might not even be issues if we had more women in politics. This is the bottom line. Our country has a cultural problem in voting for and supporting women. There are more women in politics in Dublin than there are down the country, for example. This matter must be debated. It might seem like a sop, the lip-service to women to which my colleague, Senator O'Malley, referred, but it is not. When the report on symphysiotomies is published by the Department of Health and Children, for example, it must be debated. We have a huge cultural problem in dealing with the rights of women and children. Had we more women in politics, there would be no issue. We badly need a debate.