Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with others in recognising International Women's Day and the tremendous changes that are now proposed through the introduction of a referendum to remove those comments that have no place in a modern Constitution. I hope that brings some sense of recognition that we as a society have changed significantly. While it is important that this happens, and I am sure it will pass without any issue, we still owe a debt to many women in society. Let us not forget that the marriage bar only ended in the 1970s. We talk about removing references to women in the home. This State forced women into the home and it has not made recompense to those women, many of whom are just getting by on pensions notwithstanding the contribution they made and could have made. We talk a lot about redress. We have a good capacity to address issues in this State where the State failed certain cohorts and certain sections. Efforts were made in the past but quite frankly I do not believe they met our responsibility or the responsibility of the State to those women who were forced to stop working. They had no choice and it was done because of nothing other than the State deciding it would remove them from the workplace when they got married. If you read anything written about it at the time, it is clear that it was not even about this outdated ideology of the mother being the homemaker. It was about not allowing women to remain in the workforce where they would get higher pay over time and have greater expectations in relation to retirement etc. If we address that issue, if we are ready to grapple with it, that would speak far greater to those women. I am not taking at all from what is proposed. I agree with that absolutely. It should have been done a long time ago but let us not make it a token gesture. Let us make it real.