Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Fáilte and best of luck to the Minister in her new role.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on women’s health. The Department of Health has released statistics to Aontú which show that there is a 12% difference in the five-year survival chances for women diagnosed with breast cancer in public hospitals versus those diagnosed in private hospitals. This is a very sad statistic. It is shocking to think that 12 more women out of every 100 will die after being diagnosed in a public hospital compared with those diagnosed in private hospitals. I hope those outcomes will improve during the Minister’s term in office.

On the subject of International Women’s Day, 8 March will mark the first anniversary of the resounding defeat of the family and care referendums, which, had they been passed, would not only have stripped Irish women of their special inclusion in our Constitution, they also would have diluted the already scant rights of family carers even further. It is hard to believe that the National Women’s Council pushed to delete the word “mother” from the Constitution. Aontú, along with a handful of others, took on the might of the entire establishment in live debates. A few good men and women boldly faced down Ministers who were insulated by a compliant Opposition and the weight of many highly paid but unelected NGOs, all willing to ram the referendums through. However, right prevailed over might. Principles, intelligent, critical thinking and genuine care for the electorate trumped Government virtue signalling.

On the topic of the referendum, most of the carers in our country are women. There have been many promises from the Government to end the cruel and unfair means test on carer’s allowance that discriminates against women. Many women provide care full time but are denied financial supports because they are judged on the basis of their husbands' or partners' incomes. When will the Government get rid of the means test for carers? The programme for Government states that the aim is to phase it out. That is simply not good enough.