Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Leas-Chathaoirleach has stolen my opening line because International Women's Day is an important part of my calendar, given that I am the Minister with responsibility for gender equality. In reality, it is a day of significance for all of us, both men and women. Gender equality remains a profound challenge, as the Leas-Chathaoirleach alluded to, despite significant changes and improvements, and the progress that has been made in recent years. As a Government, we are committed to taking real and practical measures to highlight and tackle existing gender inequality across all aspects of our society.

The gender pay gap is one of the major challenges to full gender equality both internationally and here in Ireland. The impact of the gender pay gap is a lifelong one, with lower incomes contributing to lower pension entitlements in later life for women. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act we debated in this House and which was passed last year introduced a legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting in Ireland and reporting by organisations with over 250 employees will begin this year. According to the Central Statistics Office's Business Demography 2019 report, there are 732 private sector employers and 80 public service employers with more than 250 employees. Regulations to give effect to this legislation are in preparation and will be published in the coming weeks, along with guidance for employers, who will have to choose a snapshot date in June of this year and report on the employees they have on that date. The date for reporting will be the equivalent date six months later in December this year. Those reporting this year will be required to publish that information on their own websites or other public forums. An online reporting portal is planned for use in 2023, which will be publicly searchable.

Reporting requirements will also be rolled out over the next few years, initially to organisations with over 150 employees and then to organisations with over 50 employees. This will eventually encompass more than two thirds of employees in the State. Gender pay gap reporting will help employers to identify the drivers behind the individual pay gaps within their firms and they will be required to include in their annual reporting the reasons they believe there is a gender pay gap in their companies. That is important. Crucially, they must also outline the steps they are taking to address and solve the gender pay gap that the reporting mechanism has revealed.

The reporting requirements will also provide for transparency for employees as to what companies are doing and which companies are doing the most to address their gender pay gaps. That information in its totality will help to inform public policy initiatives the Government will undertake to address the issue, perhaps on a sectoral basis. By getting this information, we can then shape policy tools to intervene in areas where that intervention is needed most.

I am also committed to supporting women to remain in the workforce, as well as allowing parents to have a work-life balance. Significant advances in the provision of family leave have been made in recent years, including the introduction of paid parent's leave, which provides an entitlement to each parent to encourage a sharing of the care of a child in its earliest years. There has also been an extension of unpaid parental leave. Parent's leave is due another extension in July of this year, which will bring the entitlement to seven weeks for each eligible parent to be taken within the first two years of a child's life or adoptive placement. This has gone up from two weeks when the Government came to power. That leave entitlement will have increased to seven weeks over the past two years.

I will also shortly bring to Government legislative proposals to transpose the remaining elements of the EU's work-life balance directive, including a right to request flexible working within the terms of the directive and an entitlement to leave for medical care purposes. This legislation will also fulfil a long-standing Government commitment to extend the entitlement to breastfeeding breaks under the Maternity Protection Act to a full two years. The importance of extending breastfeeding for the child is well-established and breastfeeding breaks facilitate this and will make it easier for a mother to return to the workplace after maternity leave and continue breastfeeding. Such breaks are only provided for 26 weeks now and any mother who takes up her full paid maternity leave benefit will have passed the period within which she can use breastfeeding breaks. We will be extending it from 26 weeks to 104 weeks, which is a significant extension, to recognise the long-standing policy to support women returning to work and to support a greater uptake of breastfeeding in those first two years. I am very conscious of the role childcare plays in supporting everyone’s participation in the workforce but in particular supporting women’s participation and return to the workforce. I know the issue of childcare is one we have discussed many times in this House. We have reflected on the fact that Ireland has a long history of underinvestment and neglect in the area of childcare. However, we have made progress in recent years with the introduction of the national childcare scheme and, about ten years ago, the introduction of the ECCE two-year free preschool services. The Government has now embarked on a wide-ranging reform of this sector. This includes support for childcare professionals in a sector where the workforce is overwhelmingly female and this reform seeks to improve career structures and rates of pay. Earlier this week, I announced details of a new €221 million funding stream for services to help meet these goals while also improving affordability for parents through the introduction of a freeze on fee increases.

As I noted, Ireland is not alone in facing gender inequalities and it is important we use our voice to speak up and emphasise the need for gender equality internationally. I will be travelling later this week to the United States, where I will lead Ireland's delegation to the 66th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which opens on 14 March. The priority theme for the commission this year is to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, and environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. Gender inequalities mean women are often more directly and severely impacted by climate change and the potential contribution of women to addressing the climate crisis is often overlooked and undervalued. We need to unlock the unique capabilities and strengths that women have to address this challenge of a generation. Women's voices need to be heard at all levels.

Violence against women crosses borders and boundaries. It is an issue of serious concern to the Government. We all recognise that the shocking and tragic death of Ashling Murphy has strengthened our resolve to bring in meaningful supports for women experiencing violence of any form. The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a cross-departmental and multi-agency issue. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which is under my responsibility, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. With input from the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I worked intensively on the audit of the segmentation of the Government's responses to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, which is something that has been called for by NGOs in this sector for many years, and on how the results of that audit fit with the new third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The result of that audit has been an agreement that the Department of Justice will become the lead Department with responsibility for responding to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and responsibility for policy, accommodation and services will now transfer to the Department of Justice.

Domestic violence can result not only in women having to leave their homes but also in losing their employment and becoming at higher risk of experiencing poverty. In order to mitigate that risk, officials in my Department have been examining the issue of domestic violence leave. A report on this work has been compiled and I will bring it to Government shortly. It reflects consultations that I carried out with stakeholders and an analysis of international examples. It includes recommendations on what form the leave should take and also other supports for employers to develop domestic violence workplace policies. This report will contribute to legislative proposals which I intend to advance this year as part of the work-life balance and miscellaneous provisions Bill.

I thank the Senators for this opportunity to speak to them on this very important issue as we mark the hugely important day of International Women's Day. As I have outlined, the Government is working to address gender inequality across a range of areas. In the coming months, we will see parent’s leave expanded, the extension of breastfeeding breaks, the introduction of domestic violence leave and significant additional resources placed into childcare. I thank the Senators for the invitation to be here. I look forward to their contributions and to being able to respond to them later.