Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very proud and honoured to second the Bill brought forward by my colleague, Senator Clifford-Lee. I thank her for all of the work and consultation that she has undertaken to bring the Bill before us tonight. I say that both as a Fianna Fáil colleague and as chair of the women's caucus. It is almost two years since the women's caucus decided to put a cross-party motion on period poverty to the Dáil. That motion was subsequently debated in the Seanad. It is great that less than two years later, the report is published today, we have this Bill in front of us and a commitment on the issue in the programme for Government, which my party and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, and her party ensured was included. The Bill that is before us is a natural progression of that effort.

According to research conducted by Plan International Ireland, 50% of women between the ages of 12 and 19 struggle to afford sanitary products. I was absolutely shocked when I came across that statistic two years ago. It is very hard to imagine that approximately half of young women in Ireland and, indeed, some older women and trans men, cannot afford a basic product. Another thing that I discovered two years ago, as part of an exercise in which we looked at how many times menstruation had been mentioned in the Dáil record over the previous 100 years, was that it was mentioned 27 times. That shows the lack of debate on periods, which are a very normal part of girls' and women's lives. When menstruation was mentioned, it was in the context of fertility as opposed to an individual's health and well-being. That was worrying because period poverty is a real issue for women in Ireland. It is good to see the debate we are now having and not one but two Bills on the issue. It is also good to see women around the country, including councillors in Dublin, Longford and Kilkenny, putting this matter on the agenda and ensuring we have a debate on it. It is an issue of equality and dignity as well as one of trying to ensure that all women have access to the products they need. There is an element of poverty, with women who are living in poor conditions finding it difficult for many reasons, particularly in the context of their own dignity.

I pay particular tribute to Claire Hunt, who is pretty much a one-woman show in running the Homeless Period Ireland organisation. She has been doing tremendous work for years. Two years ago, she gave a presentation in the Oireachtas audiovisual room on the impact period poverty has on many women. It was wonderful to see so many schools involved in that initiative. There were pupils from two schools, in counties Meath and Cavan, in attendance at the presentation who were doing projects for the Young Social Innovators awards. That is really to be commended.

There is a massive stigma surrounding periods and the cost of period products. That has very real consequences. As well as the finding that 50% of women and young girls found it difficult to afford products, the Plan International Ireland survey also found that 61% of Irish girls have missed school because of their period. That is absolutely shocking. If 61% of any student cohort said that they had missed school because of some type of virus, it would be a national emergency.

Opening up the conversation, as well as providing free sanitary products, brings greater dignity and well-being to women and girls. Those of us in the women's caucus were delighted to have the opportunity to bring attention to the issue. We will be having a meeting tomorrow to discuss what we have achieved in the past two years. It is very timely that this Bill, which was sponsored by Senator Clifford-Lee, is before us this evening. Periods are an entirely normal part of life for every woman worldwide. Both the UN and the leading NGO, Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly recognised menstrual hygiene as a human right.They have said that irrespective of income, background or circumstance every woman should have access to sanitary products in a discreet and dignified way. No woman should be left unable to manage her period. It is an issue and a matter of promoting and maintaining public health. It is an important conversation we need to have in the Seanad and Dáil and on the streets as well as in schools, communities, homes and offices.

The progressive legislation we are discussing today is welcome. It will be a major public health measure. It is welcome that the Government is supporting the Bill. Irrespective of what anyone says, no one woman or particular party owns this issue. This is an issue for all women and young girls of Ireland and of course for trans men. There are many different conversations that we need to have.

Gloria Steinem once said that the world would be a very different place if men had periods. I think she is absolutely right. If men had periods I do not believe we would be having this particular debate at this time. The debate is continuing around the world. We know that in Scotland a little over two years ago Ms Nicola Sturgeon was the first First Minister to introduce legislation supporting period poverty. Other countries have taken that example and I look forward to Ireland taking that lead and progressing the legislation we have before us. Again, I thank my colleague, Senator Clifford-Lee, and I look forward to the debate and to further support.