Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

International Women’s Day is not only a day of celebration but a day of action. If we are going to celebrate International Women’s Day it has to be a meaningful day for all women in Irish society. That means breaking down barriers that keep women from reaching their full potential in society. During my work as an activist I was taught to walk into a room or a building and ask the question, “Who is not here?” My question today is “Who is not here?” Obviously the male Senators are not here in solidarity for the discussion and also women of colour are not here, migrant women are not here, women who are wheelchair users are not here. Other women are not here. I am here. I am one, by myself, from an ethnic minority group. Maybe we should think about that today. We need women in here who have lived experience. I am privileged to be here, as a person, not only as a woman but as a mother and a member of the Traveller community. I am absolutely privileged to have a seat in our Oireachtas. On Monday, we had Women for Election which comprised diverse women. I have never seen anything like it. It was emotional to be there and listen to the women, young women, women from different walks of life. I will not say all walks of life but different walks of life. Helene Power of the Irish Traveller Movement spoke and said that if we want a political system that is devoted to inclusion and diversity, we should remove the structural obstacles that are put in the way of women from minority groups. We need brown and black women in these Houses, women who are disabled, all women. We have the power as legislators to make that happen.

I want to credit my colleague, Senator Alice-Mary Higgins, and all the women who sat on the Joint Committee on Gender Equality. It has 45 recommendations that include recommendations on education, health, public service, care, social protection, domestic and gender-based violence, pay and employment and achieving gender equality in leadership, politics and public life and in the workplace. I support all these recommendations. However, after two-and-a-half years of sitting around tables I am sick to the teeth. I am actually exhausted and it was said here today, as a woman. We have to look at the intersection of inclusivity. As a woman from the Traveller community, I was so full of passion when I first came in, saying “Actually, we can make changes”. Since I have been here in the past two-and-a-half years there were very few changes for women, and even fewer changes for women of colour who do not get spaces around these tables. They do not get the opportunities to sit around them. If we want these women here, we must remember “nothing about us without us”. Too often it is about them but it is without them. How can we live in such a society and celebrate International Women’s Day when we are leaving thousands of women in our society behind? As I said here when I first came into these Houses, our political system is not made up of the rich diversity that now exists within our country.

Take for example post-natal depression services and care services for people. While there are great professionals looking after women who go through post-natal depression, we do not have a specific unit in a hospital. There is in the UK. It can bring in women for six weeks or months, for however long they need the support to get through the post-natal depression. Today I cannot help thinking about Vicky Phelan. When it comes to the health crisis for women in Irish society that is very much the case today, especially for women on the edges of society, especially Traveller women. As a woman who has gone through all of the cervical checks and still has to go through more underlying issues myself, I know that we do not have a good health service in this country for women. We bring in free sanitary towels and period products. That is charity. We need to provide good services for women from all walks of life.

We talk about gender quotas of 30% or 40%. Women make up 50% of the Irish population. How come we are only getting 30% or 40% of a quota? Where are we around the boards of management in Irish society, or the councils or in the Houses of the Oireachtas?The quota is now 40%. We are treated as 40% and the rest goes to men, while we make up 50% of the population. We really have to look at those questions and we have to answer them. If we say equality we have to mean equality. The Joint Committee on Gender Equality made great recommendations and we have to follow through on those. Somebody has to be held to account. We cannot just be sitting around coming up with the solutions. We do not have to create the wheel. We already have the answers; it is about implementation.

I take this opportunity to thank Senators Higgins, Ruane and Black. We are the only group in the Oireachtas that is all women. I also thank the women who work in the Civil Engagement Group as part of our team. There is another woman who comes to mind today. Dr. Hannagh McGinley is a Traveller woman and activist who has gone above and beyond. She is a single mother. Her whole life, she has been fighting for Traveller rights and I want to acknowledge her today. She was a big part of bringing forward the Traveller history and education Bill for the Traveller community.