Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

You are not the first man I stopped in his tracks, a Chathaoirligh.

All joking aside, I extend my sincere sympathy and that of my Sinn Féin colleagues to the families of the young woman and the two children who lost their lives in the unfolding tragedy in Clondalkin this morning. May they rest in peace.

Sonas daoibh go léir ar Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan.. Happy International Women's Day to everybody here, including the men. I congratulate all the women who participated in the recent elections in the North and all those who were elected. From my own party, 11 women, or some 40% of successful candidates, were elected. It is a great achievement and certainly a sign of progress.

This is a time for us to reflect on what it means to be a woman in Ireland today. This week, we have been reminded again of how women and their babies were treated by society, the State and religious institutions. We would all like to think that discrimination against and marginalisation and alienation of women no longer exists. We would like to think it is a thing of the past, that we all know better now, and that religious orders no longer have the power and control that they once had. In saying that, I want to commend the goodness and kindness that was prevalent in many religious institutions such as hospitals and schools. I experienced the kindness of some of those nuns in the Convent of Mercy in Belmullet, County Mayo.

It is of grave concern to me that we as legislators are living and working through a period which, I have no doubt, will form the basis of tribunals and inquiries in the future. This morning, I saw a young girl in her school uniform leaving for school from the hotel I was staying in last night. In 20, 30 or 40 years' time, this girl may come back and ask us why she did not deserve a home and why she had to live in a hotel room. She may ask us how she could have been expected to fulfil her true potential when she did not have a place to do her homework. There may be many other questions. She may ask why she was made to feel different, afraid and ashamed because she did not have a home like other girls and boys in the class. I wonder what answers and legal terms we will come up with in the future to answer such questions. The task will not fall to those whose economic policies wrecked the heart of our country, or to those who now refuse to put it right. Are they not the people who should hang their heads in shame?

Today, I also think of the hundreds of girls and boys who have been identified as being at risk and have not even been allocated a social worker. When they ask why no one came to save them from neglect, abuse and fear, what will we say? Last week, Safe Ireland told us that 5,000 requests for help have been turned away. What will we tell those people? Do my colleagues think we will get away with telling them we needed to pursue policies that create an ever increasing number of millionaires and billionaires, and therefore could not find the money to keep them safe? Happy International Women's Day.