Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am a person who very much wears my heart on my sleeve. I am transparent, probably too much so for the business we are in. I am overwhelmed by the support from everyone who spoke on the Bill today. This legislation is very much part of the point about allowing half of the talent of our country, the women of Ireland, to participate. We are not being competitive if we are not using the brains of half of the country. We have to further encourage men in Ireland to fully participate in the rearing of their children. Despite all that we have heard about men, I love to see a man wheeling a pram, but we still have a long way to go because the women are carrying the burden of the rearing of the children. There is no question about that. We need women, as Sheryl Sandberg said in her book Lean In, to push more as well to participate in society. The more helpful a man is in supporting his wife if they have children and, if they do not have children, the more he supports her in what she does, the more happy their lives will be in this world and the more they will be able to develop their potential to the full because they will be living in a happy environment. The more men help women to fully participate, the better. I sincerely believe that the women of Ireland have every right to enjoy family and work the way men do, and their fulfilment and peace in their family life, whether they have children or do not have children, makes for better adjusted people, and the home is their nest. I am overwhelmed. I never expected this.