Máire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak now and my colleague can come back in later. I commend my colleagues in the Labour Party for bringing this Bill forward, which Sinn Féin is very happy to support. Equality of wealth is a key objective for gender parity and it is a relevant issue. We know that more equality benefits the economy. It benefits many families in terms of increases in women's take-home pay. In 1918, women were given the vote but, 100 years later, gender equality has still not been attained. We can never underestimate the size of the task to reverse all history. Patriarchy began when time began and the liberation of women means digging up the roots of human culture and nothing less. Each generation witnessed a wave of brave women stepping up another rung on the ladder and each generation has to do it again until all sexism becomes bizarre ancient history to our great grandchildren. A suite of measures needs to be introduced to cancel the motherhood penalty and the penalty for being a working mother, including improved shared parental leave, affordable childcare and flexible work practices.

Sinn Féin is in favour of making public the names of companies that do not comply with the legislation and the amendment provides for that. The people who engage with these companies, both customers and employees, should have access to this information. They should be aware of the fact that they are giving their business to, or working for, a company that is failing to comply with the law. That is why we propose that any company employing more than 100 staff that contravenes the provisions of this Act should have its company title published.

Sinn Féin welcomes and will support the Bill. We believe our amendment will bring greater transparency in the context of gender pay equality.