Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I rise today to raise the issue of the price women pay for motherhood. An OECD report published this week indicates that the gender gap in Ireland widens as women have children. Irish women begin to earn less than men after they have children. I am speaking not about equality between men and women but about the earning potential of women after they have children. The OECD report also indicates that men in Ireland work 344 minutes per day in paid work and 129 minutes per day in unpaid work, which amounts to 473 minutes work per day, while on the other hand women in Ireland work 197 minutes in paid work and 296 minutes in unpaid work, which amounts to 493 minutes work per day, which is more than the number of minutes worked by men yet the earning potential of women is reduced when they have children. There is a need for a wide-ranging debate not only on closing the gender gap and women in the workforce but on women and men in child care, paternity and maternity leave and the ambience of why this is happening and not only in Ireland. It must be a central strategy of every government to create more sustainable economies and inclusive societies.

That applies to every society in the world. The world's population is aging and this challenge can only be mastered if all of the talent available is utilised. I call for a debate on this issue, given that we are due to debate the Social Welfare Bill today and especially whether the cut to child benefit is fair or unfair and whether the payment should be universal or otherwise. I would like the issue of childcare to be debated separately in the Seanad. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, has taken the matter under her wing and is doing a great job, but she must be helped. This report gives her much more ammunition. She is doing what she can and has done a great deal-----