Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very glad to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I welcome the Minister. The progress on women's health issues that she outlined in her statement is very encouraging material. I compliment the Government on all of the initiatives it is taking in this area. I want this to be understood.

Women's health is not only an issue for women. It is also an issue for men. Men and women together are affected by women's health issues dramatically and sometimes tragically. We cannot segregate the consideration of women's health into a small corner where only women are concerned.

Although this debate on International Women's Day is focusing on health issues relating to women, we should not forget what happened on International Women's Day last year. There was a referendum in which various proposals were put to the people that were rejected in the round. I do not want to reopen those issues here now, but I do want to say this: the women of Ireland overwhelmingly voted against the Government's proposals. In that context, I want to raise the fact that the National Women's Council took a very strong position on one side of that debate but women generally are entitled to be heard right across the board. NGOs do not always represent the real concerns of all women, which include such issues as we are discussing here today.

Misinformation was put out by Ministers at that time. I am glad to say it was not this Minister. People were told things that were untrue about the implications of what they were being asked to vote for. It is interesting to note today that the Government is coming forward with amendments to social welfare legislation to deal with the O'Meara decision. If we had passed the "durable relations" definition of family, it would have affected a range of issues right across the board. We were misled by Ministers at the time on the consequences of the votes. That issue has not gone away. Accountability for that misinformation should never be forgotten.

If we think about them, vaccination programmes such as the HPV one are both male and female issues. The fact is that women are the people who bear the consequences of male-female issues. We should not segregate or compartmentalise women's health into an area where only women are heard. If we are going to do that, we should remember that all women should be heard, not just activist NGOs that have a particular agenda.