Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also do not want to hear it said that it is not all men. Of course it is not all men who reach a point where they rape, murder or plunder the rights of women, but an awful lot of women are undermined by men every day. A culture of misogyny is endemic in our society, sadly. Whatever its origins, and we all have a fair idea of where it comes from and how it has been allowed to continue, it is there. We can expect the Government to do the devil and all, and I have no doubt that it will, but unless men take responsibility in addressing this culture of misogyny, we will be going nowhere.

The other night, I watched a powerful investigative programme RTÉ did on the Kerry babies case. I would like to think we have moved a long way from that time, but we still have a culture of misogyny. It is beyond belief what was done to that woman. That it took 20 years for the State to address it, is equally harrowing. At least the State did, eventually, face up to its responsibilities to the family in question.

I spoke during the week to a woman friend of mine who happens to be a solicitor. She relayed a story to me of a male colleague who during a professional negotiation, and this was just in the last week, asked her why she was being so feisty. It was polite language perhaps, but the message being conveyed by that man to his woman colleague was direct. To her, it was interpreted as "Calm down you hysterical little woman". That happened between two professionals last week. Fair play to her because she retorted by asking if he would say that to a man. We all know the answer. He would probably get decked if he did. Why is a woman who is forthright and stands up for her position, or that of her client, described as "hysterical"? If a man stands up for his client in that way, he is described as "solid" and told "well done" and that he did right. Women are undermined every day of the week in the workplace for no reason other than their gender. A man would not do that to another man because he would not get away with it and we know why.

It is often said that women should take it on the chin and get on with their job but they should not. They should not be asked to take it on the chin. Men would not be asked to do so and this needs to be called out.A former county council employee shared a story with me last week relating to a female former colleague of his who believed she was being bullied in the course of her work by a male who was, at the time, an elected member of the council. She followed the proper procedure and made a complaint but the councillor was never brought to book or held to account. He lawyered up and defended himself and it seems the internal procedures were not strong enough to deal with the situation because he was not an employee of the council. The view of the person who shared the story with me was that, if it had been a man, the councillor would not have got away with it and would not have tried his hand in the first instance. He was trying to advance the case for some particular issue he was involved in but the woman felt she was bullied just for doing her job.

When other women in the workplace see that concerns are not being taken seriously, it further undermines their self-confidence. We need to resolve that because women cannot be made feel they are not being taken seriously and cannot expect a positive outcome when they are being bullied or harassed in discharging their duties in the workplace. I wish the Minister well in the work she is doing, but it can only be a signal. Legislation from the Government cannot solve this problem. It is up to men in society to do right by women they see being undermined and abused in a sinister way by other men and to call that out. We cannot stand idly by any longer.