Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his time today and he is welcome to the Chamber. I will be sticking to the theme of the republic of opportunity.

The privileges and oppressions that we are born into are mostly out of our control. They are the fate of birth, however, the reinforcing of them by society is somewhat in our control. They must be challenged by us all and by the Taoiseach, the Head of the Government. The Taoiseach talks a lot about the republic of opportunity but what does that really mean? What does equality really mean? It is time that as a society and as a government, we look beyond the slogans and get right to the core of what true equality means. Instead of striving for equality of opportunity, let us aim for equality of outcome. Equality of opportunity is only accessible by all if we are all starting from the same starting point. If we create a republic of equal outcomes, we must have a far greater equality of wealth and income and the environments in which we live must resemble those of one another. We must have equal power to shape those environments. We can only achieve true equality if we reduce the material, social and cultural inequalities that exist between us in society.

In university, I explored the dimensions of social class in a bid to understand not only the morality of class but who or what is to blame. As a philosophy student I spent most of my time looking at it under the heading of moral philosophy. The result of that for me is that poverty, inequality and the systems that reinforce them are immoral. During a debate on the Social Welfare Bill two years ago, I told a story in the Chamber that I will tell again because it illustrates the contrasts of people's lives and experiences of class in Ireland. I had been invited to speak at Alexandra College in Dublin 6. It was a lovely evening and all the speakers were inspiring and entertaining. However, one woman who was a past pupil of the school spoke about her successful career and how she maintained the friendships with her ten best friends, which she made while at school.They were all so successful and they were scattered around the world. I began to think about the ten best friends whom I grew up with, and the majority had died. Some experienced addiction, some were murdered, some committed suicide, some have become institutionalised in a prison system and many have had to fight harder than most for everything that they have achieved. It upset and shocked me to realise that I was only living a 20 minute drive from Dublin 6 yet that meant that we, who are just a short distance away, are not reaching our full potential.

It is important to examine how class is produced if we are to attempt to address it. I recently read a book by Dr. Andrew Sayer called The Moral Significance of Classand I would recommend it to anyone who cares about addressing inequality. The problem for me is that we tend to blame the individual for his or her circumstances, that maybe he or she did not work hard enough, get up early enough or try hard enough. Blaming the individual completely ignores the impact of poverty, environment and access to basic needs on a person's prospects. We cannot be blamed for the intergenerational poverty that areas such as ours have endured. Of course, I accept that there is both a personal and collective responsibility, but personal control over situations is often limited.

There is a lot of work to do in putting social class on the political agenda. Social class is killing people in my community and it is time we addressed it with the importance and urgency that it requires. I ask myself daily how society can address social class, and the Taoiseach should ask himself this question too. What does the Taoiseach mean when he thinks of a republic of opportunity and how does he measure that? Governments often distance themselves from acknowledging class as a problem within society. I ask the Taoiseach not to. He should be part of the solution, not a player in the reinforcing of a class system, and maybe look to equity, not equality.

Another area of inequality is equality for women. I will finish by thanking the Taoiseach for his recent comments on and commitments to the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. I was proud on Monday night to listen to the Taoiseach as Head of Government, and I want to have pride in feeling that communities such as mine are also represented by him.