Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also congratulate my colleague, Senator Bacik, on her hard work in this regard. We all know in this House that Private Members' time is fairly precious. When one gets it, one wants to make sure one has a topic or legislation which is very important. This is why we have chosen this one. We feel that we have an opportunity to have cross-party support on this measure to take it to the next Stage. The year we are in has been referenced in regard to gender equality, with the 100th anniversary of some women getting the franchise and this year's referendum. There are very deep gender equality issues in our society which are still unresolved. We separate children at primary school level on the basis of gender. We are almost unique in that regard. We separate children at secondary school level by gender. That is disproportionately prevalent in Ireland, more so than in any European country. One third of our secondary schools are gender-specific, which is very unusual.

Women are under-represented in politics, in the media and on executive boards. There are other countries that take steps in this regard. It is not just Ireland, which insists on gender equality on State boards. Germany has passed legislation to ensure gender equality on commercial corporate boards. The measures we are taking are achievable and attainable and ones everybody in the House should support. I absolutely concur with my colleagues that there is a window of opportunity here. In a place where we can be very divisive and spot opportunities to have a go at each other, there is an opportunity to move this legislation to the next Stage, get it passed in the Seanad and possibly get it passed by Christmas. That would put this House and the Oireachtas in general in a good light considering the current year. I ask Members across the floor to take the goodwill that is evident from all parties and from the Government and move collectively to take this to the next Stage and get it passed. We should apply the same spirit to the amendment.

A huge amount of work has been put into this piece of legislation. There has been research, and the researchers have been referenced. I refer to the phrase that Hillary Clinton has often used: "You cannot be what you cannot see". If women, or any members of a minority faith, ethnicity or sexual orientation do not see themselves in positions of power and influence they cannot aspire to them. This is purely what we are trying to achieve with pay, which is basic and fundamental to how people operate in an economy. On that basis, I ask the Minister of State to facilitate what we are trying to achieve here and ask all parties to do the same.