Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the sentiments expressed by Senator Whelan in respect of the actions of and negotiations entered into by our Government, the EU and the US with regard to the terrible events that are happening in Russia and Ukraine.

I take this opportunity to wish the couple of women who are present, and also the men, happy International Women's Week. Senators may have thought it was just a single day but this year an entire week is being devoted to celebrating women's significant achievements and highlighting all that remains to be done to ensure the full participation in and equality for women in the context of the workings of this State. We need at least a week to mark these achievements and to begin to fill some of the holes on the road ahead. As a former chief executive of the National Women's Council of Ireland, NWCI, I wish to ask if the Leader will make time available for a debate with the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, on the report on six ways to make the Oireachtas more women-friendly, which is currently being launched by the council. I understand many of our female colleagues are currently attending that launch. One of the suggested six ways to make the Oireachtas more women-friendly is the establishment of a 40% gender quota for Cabinet appointments. That is one of the best ideas I have heard in a long time and it would lead to more women being seated at that big table. Another one of the suggested ways relates to maternity leave for politicians. What a radical idea. The report recounts how, when she returned from maternity leave, Deputy McDonald was informed by one of her colleagues that politicians do not take maternity leave. Another suggestion - perhaps an even more radical one - is that there should be paternity leave for politicians. Will the Leader make time available for a debate on this matter?

I have two further questions for the Leader in view of the week that is in it. We are still living in a State in which at least one maternity service in a regional hospital has been deemed to be neither safe for women nor sustainable. We have all been obliged to listen to stories being recounted about a broken system - which the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, insists will be fixed - amid the context of the inestimable grief of the parents whose babies died. There has been a debate about whether a reduction or consolidation of resources had anything to do which causing this crisis. Will the Leader ask the Minister if he is going to take action in respect of the lack of midwives at Portlaoise hospital? There is a need to appoint more staff to the maternity unit at the hospital in order that there will be a ratio of one midwife to 29.5 births, as recommended by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. If that ratio is to be met, then an additional 33 midwives will have to be employed at Portlaoise. In such circumstances, how can the HSE inform women who are due to give birth that they are safe?

I have one final question, and I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence. In recent weeks the Government has noted its achievement of an increase of 61,000 in the overall number of jobs. That is an achievement and I offer my congratulations. When one drills down into that headline figure, however, one discovers that the level of employment among women under the age of 35 is down by a staggering 17,100 since last year. Something is radically wrong here. In that context, will the Leader ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to outline the specific programmes he is developing in order to facilitate the creation of jobs for younger women?