2026-03-18

I wish to start by thanking and welcoming everyone to the Dáil Chamber today. In particular, I wish to pay tribute, as the Ceann Comhairle has done, to Ms Brigid Walsh, who is 90 years of age and has just left the Gallery. It is great to see women of all ages here today. It is a real honour to be here celebrating International Women's Day, which took place last week, and recognising the wonderful women who shape our lives, our communities and our country. I am especially glad to be here on the back of my attendance at the 70th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York last week, which was an inspiring and informative few days. It was not particularly uplifting, however, as there is definitely a real and palpable sense of progress internationally stalling on this issue. That is something that Ireland and I and, I am sure, every female Minister, in particular, are absolutely determined to push back against. This year's theme was not "Give to Gain", as many people have been stating. Rather, this year's theme, as defined by the United Nations, was ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls. It looked at ways in which we can build fairer, more inclusive legal systems, remove discriminatory laws and practices and tackle the deeper structural barriers that hold too many women back. Being part of these conversations with global partners was a powerful reminder of the work still ahead but also of the leadership Ireland can offer. We remain fully committed to supporting women's full and meaningful participation in public life and to eliminating all forms of violence so that women and girls everywhere can lead empowered, equal lives. With all of that in mind, I am really pleased to take this opportunity to update Members on the significant progress we have made in advancing gender equality, progress that is clearly reflected in Ireland's rising position on the EU gender equality index. Gender equality is one of the core values of the European Union and I am proud to say that Ireland now ranks sixth in the EU, an improvement from ninth place just two years ago. It speaks to our continued commitment to making gender equality a reality both here at home and in our work internationally. This improvement has not just happened by accident. It reflects real progress across a range of areas that matter to women and girls, from health and education to business and economic participation. We are also seeing the impact culturally and socially. Irish women continue to excel in sport, science, business, media and across the arts, as we saw again this weekend with Jessie Buckley's continued success. Their achievements are helping to reshape how we see ourselves as a society and who we imagine ourselves becoming. However, what we know is that there is still much work to be done. As a Government, we have been taking a structured and systematic approach to closing the remaining gaps. One key milestone was the launch by the Minister, Deputy Foley, of the new National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030 last November. The vision for this whole-of-government strategy is simple but essential: an Ireland where all women and girls can thrive in a truly gender-equal society. Our commitment to advancing equality between women and men is long-standing, but this strategy brings renewed clarity and purpose and places women and girls firmly at the centre of Government action. It outlines a wide set of objectives, each designed to reduce inequalities to make sure women are supported to reach their full potential. In developing that strategy, the Department worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including the National Youth Assembly and the National Women's Council of Ireland. I was delighted to meet representatives from both of those organisations during the Commission on the Status of Women event in New York last week. Their involvement makes sure it reflects the real priorities of women and girls at every stage of their lives. The insights from the National Youth Assembly were especially valuable, helping to ensure that the strategy places a strong focus on how we can better support the next generation. While strategies are important, we must also ensure that we are taking meaningful action to ensure that strategies are fully implemented. That is why the national strategy for women and girls will be delivered through two action plans, with the first running from 2026 to 2028. As we move from planning to delivery phases, we also have to recognise that some women's experiences are different from others. That is because women's experiences are simply not all the same. That is why an intersectional approach has been central to this work, ensuring that the strategy aligns with key national politics and reflects the diverse realities of all women and girls. That is also why we ensured the strategy sits firmly within our broader equality agenda, connecting closely with frameworks such as the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II 2024-2028, which was launched in July 2024, and the national LGBTIQ+ inclusion strategy which was launched in June of this year. As part of this wider equality focus, one of the strategy's central priorities is addressing gender-based violence and the harassment of women. That is closely linking it to the zero-tolerance strategy, which is Ireland's national domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy. Objective 4 of the national strategy, "Being Safe", places a strong emphasis on eradicating violence and eliminating all forms of harassment against women and commits to delivering high-quality services for women and children who have experienced domestic, sexual or gender-based violence. Alongside that and ensuring that our approach is gender-sensitive and survivor-centred, there is also a strong emphasis on prevention. That means challenging the harmful beliefs and stereotypes that allow gender-based violence to occur and raising awareness of the many forms it can take. We also have to recognise the growing risks posed by cyberviolence. The online environment is constantly evolving and, with it, new and sometimes unexpected threats emerge. Online spaces are new forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including online abuse, harassment, sexual exploitation, including of minors, and technology-facilitated coercive control. Addressing these risks is essential if we are to achieve true zero tolerance. Ireland has already taken important steps to tackle this, including criminalising the non-consensual sharing of intimate images under Coco's Law. That legislation intentionally uses a broad definition of "intimate image" so it includes any visual representation of a person, including images that have been altered or manipulated, like deepfakes. It also means that it is not just a crime to share intimate images under Coco's Law; it is a crime to threaten to share them. However, we know we still have much more to do. That is why we will keep reviewing and strengthening our laws to respond to new and evolving forms of abuse, including as part of the transposition of the EU violence against women directive. Looking ahead, Ireland will continue to explore ways to strengthen victim reporting systems and raise public awareness. Of course, during our upcoming Presidency of the European Union, we will use that as a platform to advance greater online safety and stronger protections for women and children against the misuse of digital technologies. Our commitment also extends to eliminating gender-based bullying in education settings and ensuring that learning environments actively promote gender equality. Access to high-quality early learning and childcare is a key part of this as it has a profound impact on a child's development, learning and social skills. Ireland has several programmes in place to support children from all backgrounds in accessing early learning and childcare from an early age. For example, the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme provides two years of free pre-school, with a participation rate of 96% every year. Over 70% of low-income families report that they would not be able to send their child to pre-school without this support. One challenge we continue to address is the under-representation of women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, subjects, both in school and beyond. This not only reduces the talent available to STEM industries, it also limits the range of perspectives and innovations that are essential for social progress and economic growth. In recent years, Ireland has taken a deeper look at our STEM education policies and updated them to better support gender equality. We have moved beyond simply encouraging girls to take an interest in STEM to now focusing on the deeper structural, cultural and systemic changes that are needed to make real and lasting progress. A key part of this work is our STEM education policy statement 2017 to 2026. That includes targeted actions, such as developing a national accreditation framework to help schools build whole-school cultures grounded in equality, diversity and inclusion. It is also essential that we view gender equality through an intersectional lens. That means recognising that women experience inequality in different ways, depending on their background and circumstances, and ensuring our policies reflect that diversity. We know, for example, that the barriers facing women and girls in education can be even greater for those from Traveller, Roma or migrant communities, or for those who are disabled or marginalised in other ways. That is why national strategies that address these disadvantages are so important. In recognition of this, Ireland published the Traveller and Roma Education Strategy 2024-2030, which includes commitments to support Traveller and Roma women throughout their educational journey. Disabled women, in particular, must be supported so they can access employment opportunities, participate fully in decision-making and seek justice on an equal basis with others. Ireland's National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was launched in November, sets out our plan to advance the rights contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In that context, Article 6 of the convention, which affirms the right of disabled women to the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights - reminds us of the importance of recognising and addressing the specific, intersecting challenges disabled women can face. The strategy's vision is clear. It is to ensure that disabled people have the right to a life without barriers and can participate fully in society on an equal basis with others. It prioritises the values of equality, participation and choice, reaffirming our commitment to creating a society where disabled women are supported to live the lives they choose. I am also proud to highlight that the Government has significantly expanded family leave entitlements in recent years. This recognises just how important it is to support parents in balancing care responsibilities with participation in the workforce. In our work to support families, the First 5 strategy, our whole-of-government plan for babies, young children and their families, sets out a commitment to gradually extend paid leave in order that by 2028 parents will have access to a range of family leave supports during the first year of their child's life. As part of the First 5 implementation plan for 2023-2025, we increased parent's leave and benefit for both mothers and fathers, from seven to nine weeks, as of August 2024. It is important that we continue to recognise the diversity of family life in Ireland today. The nine weeks of parent's leave is non-transferable, meaning it can also apply to a parent's spouse, civil partner or cohabitant. Parents do not need to live together to qualify for it. We will continue building on this progress, including examining further extensions of parent's leave, greater flexibilities and the introduction of surrogacy leave - commitments that are firmly embedded in the programme for Government. The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 has also brought important new rights for workers. Parents and carers can now request flexible working and parents of children under 12 can take leave for medical care purposes. In addition, every worker now has the right to request remote working. These measures are designed to accommodate a wide range of family structures and support better work-life balance for everyone, including parents. Another key development is the gender pay gap portal, a centralised database where employers can upload their gender pay gap information. Reporting is voluntary until November of this year, giving employers an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and transparency by engaging early. Ireland has also published its first national equality data strategy, covering 2026-2031, the first of its kind not only in Ireland but in the EU. Developed by the Central Statistics Office and the Department, with input from a cross-government and civil society working group, this strategy requires every Department to commit to collecting, using or sharing equality data, and to building the capacity needed to do so. This will allow us to develop stronger and more inclusive evidence-informed policies that genuinely improve outcomes for everyone. On the international stage, Ireland continues to play an active role in advancing gender equality. We take our responsibilities under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW, very seriously. That is why over the past year, Ireland engaged closely with the CEDAW committee as part of our eighth periodic review. In June last year, a State delegation led by the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, appeared before the committee in Geneva, an important opportunity to showcase our progress and to reflect honestly on where further work is needed. Our national efforts strongly align with the European Commission's Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030, published just the other week, which embeds gender equality across all areas of life, a goal we share in our own domestic policy agenda. We all know the scale of the challenge. The European Institute for Gender Equality estimates that at the current rate of change, it could take 50 years for the EU to reach full gender equality. That is why days like today matter. I know International Women's Day was last week but it is still really important that we make time in this week's Dáil schedule for this debate because debates like this in Chambers like this around the world matter. They matter more now than ever before because, as I saw at first hand last week at the United Nations, progress is stalling internationally. We cannot afford for it to stall and we certainly cannot afford for it to slip. As Ireland prepares to take on the Presidency of the European Union later this month, I am determined that gender equality, and equality and disability more broadly, will be front and centre on our agenda. We will continue working to narrow the remaining gaps between women and men, ensuring that everyone can fully realise their rights and participate equally in society. Achieving gender equality involves us all and it is essential not just for fairness, but for building a more socially and economically sustainable future. I look forward to continuing this positive momentum in the years ahead. I again welcome today's discussion.

I am glad to get the opportunity to contribute to the statements on International Women's Day. In the couple of minutes I have I want to address some of the areas where the State is failing women, particularly in sectors that are primarily made up of women. I want to turn first to the ongoing exclusion of a number of women primarily who cannot access the mother and baby institutions payment scheme. We are now a couple of years into that scheme and there are a number of women primarily who are excluded. This is wrong. I am raising this issue with the Minister. I know she keeps saying that towards the end of the scheme, towards 2029, we will probably see an uplift and that the nature of schemes like this is that more people will apply towards the end. I would pose the question of how many people, how many survivors and how many women who are excluded will have passed away between now and 2029. The special advocate has been clear. She has called for the urgent expansion of the scheme and it should be done. It should be done for the women and mothers of this State, and it should be done now. I want to also make reference to early years educators, without whom we would not have a childcare sector. They continue to be in a situation where it is up to the JLC whether they will get a few cent here or a few cent there. We usually end up in the Labour Court and we might get a euro and we will see when we will get it. That is not the way to set wages and it is not the way we should treat early years educators at a time when, on average, we are losing 20% to 25% of them across the State. They are not being retained. Foster carers should have access to a State pension but they do not. They spend a considerable amount of their lives opening up their homes, providing love and care to the most vulnerable children in the State. At the very least, they deserve a State pension at the end of their days. I also want to also refer to childminders. About 150 of them have signed up to the regulations. There are serious issues with the regulations and that is clear given the number who have signed up for the new regulations. We need to get that right because we need childminders and we need to retain them. Last, I want to speak to the point on family leave. Yes, family leave is very important, but we have an ongoing anomaly in respect of one-parent families. If a child is born into a two-parent family, each parent gets nine weeks, but if a child is born into a one-parent family, that parent gets nine weeks. That should not be the case. It should be 18 weeks. It should not be different. It is a small cohort of people. It would be a small amount of money. We should be looking at lone parents and supporting them as best we can. I know there is a calculator now in the Department of justice when it comes to child maintenance. We can have all the calculators in the world but if child maintenance is not enforced, it is not paid, which happens a lot of the time, and it is back to the lone parent every time when that should not be the case.

It is timely that the young women in the Gallery are here. I wish them a céad míle fáilte. It just feels a little bit late for me as it is ten days after International Women's Day. I know it is to do with the schedule but it kind of reflects women's place. All the recent research that has come out in the last week and our own research from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Women's Aid and international research is quite alarming in that it sees that Gen Z men - those born between 1997 and 2012 - have, alarmingly, retreated back to the traditional macho roles of masculinity. There is pressure on them to conform to rigid gender stereotypes from influencers like that millionaire misogynist Tate and others we can think of in America. They target young men via social media, as do the pornographic sites which depict violence and sex as the norm. It is an inescapable fact that these influencers and influences foster the manosphere. The manosphere's attitudes coincide with an alarming increase in violence against women. In Ireland in particular we have higher rates than the EU average. Women and girls are easy targets for young men who are angry and look to blame. They state that they have enough of equality, enough of fairness and enough of women being independent. Where did that come from? It is a cultural shift that we must really keep a close eye on to help fight it and to call it out at all times but it must be a community response. There must be community healing and community repair by all of us. I would love to see men here giving International Women's Day speeches because the problem is not us. We need to help spread the idea of where the problem is and what we can do about it. I want to recognise the zero tolerance community-lead action groups opposing violence against women and promoting that community repair. I need to give a shout out to the Liberties community groups that launched the zero tolerance campaign recently, to our Uachtarán Shinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, for her leadership on this and the mná of Sinn Féin for creating the first group in Dublin Central.

Deputy Farrell is listed as the next speaker but is not present, so I am assuming it is Deputy Conway-Walsh.

Deputy Farrell is on her way. While marking International Women's Day we need to reflect not only on the achievements of women across Ireland but also on a difficult and painful history that cannot be ignored. For generations women in Ireland were marginalised, silenced and controlled, from institutional abuses to systematic exclusion from public life. I want to acknowledge the recent developments with Philomena's law, particularly for Irish women living abroad. We should never have dealt with them the way we did in terms of ignoring them. That is leaving aside all the other alterations and amendments that need to be done in that regard. This legacy still casts a long shadow and it is our responsibility to confront it with honestly and determination. Just this morning we had the welcome news that a new unit will be set up within Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, to investigate domestic and sexual abuse complaints against members of An Garda Síochána and, most importantly, to investigate public complaints where it is alleged that An Garda Síochána failed to properly investigate incidents of gender-based violence and sexual abuse. However, it should not have taken the courage and bravery of women like Margaret Loftus to come forward for this progress to be made. I await the detail of that announcement to ensure it is fit for purpose for the women who have suffered abuse and who have been dragged through a justice system that has fought against them and who have, in many cases, suffered abuse at the hands of our justice system. The place of women is not on the margins of our society but it is at the very heart of decision-making, leadership and nation-building. Last year I was pleased to collaborate with Dr. Shelley Deane, Professor Joanne McEvoy and Professor Jennifer Todd on their project, Constitutional Visions from the Grass-roots: Towards a Deliberative Ecology Beyond Group Division. Their deliberative democracy work with women from across the island has shown the power of women's voices in shaping not just policy but the very future of our island. They remind us that a new and united Ireland must be built from the ground up, informed by lived experience and driven by equality and equity. Today, women are shaping that new Ireland as leaders, workers, carers and activists. I want to acknowledge the cross-party work that was done by the Good Friday Agreement committee around women and constitutional change. We have a unique opportunity here to shape a new and united Ireland, and women have to be at the very heart of that.

International Women's Day is an important day in the calendar year. It gives us the opportunity to celebrate the strength, courage and resilience of women - women who have shaped our communities, our families and who continue to stand up for what is right in a very unjust world. However, we must remember that International Women's Day is not only about looking back. It is about recognising the struggles that continue today. Across Ireland, women continue to fight for equality, for justice and for dignity. Women are fighting for proper healthcare and for their voices to be heard. They are fighting against poverty, against discrimination and against violence. They are fighting for a society that values care, equality and community. I have raised in this Dáil many times the real-life institutional barriers which women face. I have primarily raised these in the context of the housing crisis. Women are uniquely impacted by the housing crisis. Unfortunately, too often I have raised the issue of how women are impacted by domestic abuse within the confines of our broken housing system in this Chamber but nothing has been done. We need a social housing passport for women affected by domestic abuse. It is not good enough that there are barriers in place that make it even more difficult for women to leave an abusive relationship. For clarity I want to give an example. If a woman leaves and abusive relationship in one county to seek support in another county, be it familial, community or justice, she is penalised by the councils as they do not recognise the years she may have spent on the housing list and, indeed, she would need to reapply fully for social housing in order to access emergency accommodation. This should not be the case and needs to change. I am asking the Minister of State to ensure this happens. Women should be safe and should get the support of this Dáil to do that. We must recognise there are women today who continue to fight for their rights quietly, courageously and collectively. The greatest tribute we can give women today is to continue their work to build a society that sees and hears women's struggles and that recognises institutional barriers that mainly affect women and not only recognise them but actually change them.

This is my tenth time to speak on statements on International Women's Day. On International Women's Day, I generally pay tribute to women activists. I am really lucky that there are loads of them in my party, in my family and in my life. However, this afternoon I want to record the loss of an activist, a feminist, a trade unionist, a campaigner and my own mam, Mary O'Reilly, who died last September. However, when I look at my daughter I know that my mother's legacy will live on in her activism, in the way that she is raising her son to be a fantastic feminist and in the way she stands up every time for what is right. I see my ma reflected in her all the time. I think we could potentially be in safe hands because now, more than ever, we are in desperate need of women activists and empowered women who will stand up and who will speak out and women who will not be silenced and will refuse to sit down. I send my solidarity to women in Cuba, in Ukraine, in Palestine and all of the women right across the globe who struggle every single day because it is not just about the women who want to have it all and need an extra seat in the boardroom. It is about women who are sheltering their families from the ravages of the IDF. It is about women who are sheltering and managing to bring their children up in appalling circumstances. They are the women we do not often see and very rarely hear about but they are the women we need to pay tribute to. The Minister of State talked about the need for rights. She undermined her own words by talking about the remote access legislation because that does not give women rights. It gives them the right to ask a question which is a right they had before and it gives employers a charter to refuse. When we talk about women's rights, we have to talk about rights that are real and that actually make a real difference in the lives of working women, in their families and in our society.

Today we are marking International Women's Day, a day to celebrate women's achievements but also to remind ourselves how far we still have to go. In Ireland, women continue to face inequality in ways both visible and hidden. Women earn less than their male counterparts, carry out the bulk of unpaid care work and remain under-represented in politics and leadership. Violence against women is rampant. Since 1997, 277 women have died violently in this State and of those women, 90% were murdered by men known to them. Furthermore, 35% of women in Ireland have experienced psychological, physical or sexual abuse from an intimate partner. A total of 12,050 incidents of domestic violence are reported to An Garda Síochána every week. We must also recognise that gender inequality is experienced unequally across the population. Migrant and Traveller women, as well as women with disabilities and those from the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans women, face additional barriers and discrimination. True equality must be intersectional. No woman can be left behind. As a State, we must do more. Healthcare is failing women. Conditions like endometriosis remain under-diagnosed, under-treated and under-funded, leaving countless women in pain and struggling to live full lives. Childcare remains unaffordable for far too many families, contributing to gender gaps in economic outcomes. We must see progress from the Government on its promise to introduce a €200 cap on childcare costs. We must guarantee fair pay, safe communities that are free from violence, inclusive services and full representation for women in every decision-making space. I cannot speak about International Women’s Day without mentioning our sisters in Palestine. Tá mná na Palaistíne fós ag maireachtáil faoi bhrúidiúlacht agus forghabháil mídhleathach ag stát cinedhíothach. Palestinian women endure the destruction of their communities, the loss of loved ones and the denial of basic rights, but they resist, they nurture, they fight and they demand justice. Their courage is extraordinary. It is our responsibility to witness their struggle and to support them and act on their behalf. Tá tionchar díreach ag an gcogadh ar mhná agus cailíní. Tá a fhios againn go méadaítear an baol foréigin ghnéasaigh agus inscnebhunaithe le linn coimhlintí. Mar sin, ciallaíonn comhionannas inscne go gcaithfidh muid troid ar son na síochána ar an stáitse idirnáisiúnta. When women are free and equal, society as a whole is stronger. Ní saoirse go saoirse na mban.

I welcome that we are marking International Women’s Day, albeit belatedly. I pay tribute to the women who work in our communities, workplaces, trade unions and right across this country to try to make it a better place. It is almost 120 years since the strike by textile workers in New York that lit the fuse, effectively, to start marking International Women’s Day. I also extend my condolences to Deputy O’Reilly and her family on the loss of her mother last September. The Labour Party marked International Women’s Day this year by standing with the staff and families of the Rotunda Hospital at the Garden of Remembrance, looking on at where work on the critical care wing should be progressing. However, that planning application, in part due to the ineptitude of the Government and the Department of Health, failed to be approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála. The Government and the Department failed to listen to the hospital about the decade-old co-location policy. I am relieved that the Government has abandoned its plans to move the Rotunda Hospital out to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown. We need to ensure that the critical care wing is built as soon as possible. It is 20 years - two decades - since there has been any serious investment in maternity facilities in this country. There are massive delays with regard to the National Maternity Hospital in Elm Park, but we cannot forget the Coombe Hospital and the Rotunda in particular when it comes to that vital investment. I will raise two issues, the first of which relates to pay. As the Minister of State knows, the pay transparency directive is supposed to be transposed into domestic law by June. What is the Government so afraid of in this regard? We are hearing that the Government is not going to transpose the directive by the deadline but, rather, it will bring forward its own stand-alone legislation. However, we have not seen the heads of Bill yet. We must ask why that is the case. Why is the Government capitulating to employers’ demands to put off transposing this important legislation that will pull back the veil on pay arrangements within workplaces and ensure that workers can apply for jobs with some idea as to what the pay range will be, as opposed to turning it into a bald negotiating exercise where workers must go in and suggest what they are worth? Critically, it will mean that pay, as opposed to an individual’s work history, will be attached to a role . That is particularly vital for women who are returning to the labour force or coming from part-time roles. It is a bit rich to talk about gender equality in this Chamber while the Government appears to be willing to incur fines because it does not want to transpose this key legislation. We want to hear from the Minister of State as to where the legislation is at. Women on average pay earn 24% less than men. There is a lot of talk about hourly pay, but no one looks at their hourly wages. Rather, they look at their weekly earnings and their ability to deal with the cost of living from those earnings. Not only are women earning less per hour, but far too many of them are forced to work fewer hours because of a lack of childcare or the burden of having to care for older people. This is an issue we talk far too little about. We talk a great deal about childcare - my colleague Deputy Wall will talk about that in a moment - but many women holding down jobs are also caring for older relatives. Almost 30% of women in this country work part-time hours, some by choice but many out of necessity. That has a real impact in the context of less than average pay within a company and accessing promotions. Far too many women are condemned to the low pay, part-time employment trap. We must change that. I appeal to the Minister of State to crack on with the gender pay transparency legislation. I am going to read from a letter that reflects just how far we have still to travel, despite our talking of all the progress we have made in this country. It relates to the health sector. In the letter, a woman explains how, over the past two years, she has ended up staying in a number of Irish hospitals, both as a patient and as the parent of her teenage daughter. She spent a week in a major hospital in 2025, while her daughter spent a week in another major hospital in 2024, five days in a paediatric hospital in 2024, along with an additional five days in 2025. While the care in these hospitals was exemplary, she highlighted one issue. Her daughter was most unfortunate that she got her period at some stage during each of her long hospital stays, as did the mother. Between them, they have had five hospital stays over a two-year period. Sanitary towels were not provided for inpatients in hospital wards. They were not available or part of the hospital supplies. While the nurses and care staff were most apologetic, the supplies were not available. Across these hospitals, nappies are freely available to both adults and girls without question, and rightly so, but when it came to sanitary towels or products, they could not be made available. We all have to reflect on the indignity of the situation those young girls and women are being left in, particularly if they are immobile, non-ambulatory or do not have visitors for a number of days. That is absolutely unacceptable in 2026. We submitted a question to the HSE in respect of this matter. It responded by talking about sanitary products in the public toilets. We are talking about patients in wards, however. This must change. I hope the Minister of State will relay that to the relevant people.

As a man, I welcome the opportunity to discuss International Women’s Day. It is an important day for every man to reflect on. It should not be this day alone, however. Men need to reflect every day on how we treat women, both in this State and across the world. Following more than 20 years in political life, I am seriously worried about the dramatic increase in the number of women fleeing domestic violence who have into my office in recent weeks and since the start of the year. These women, some with children, are leaving extremely volatile and dangerous situations with nothing but the clothes on their backs. In many cases, I have had to contact local gardaí to assist with the sickening cases I am coming across. Due to the housing emergency in County Kildare, many of the women with whom I am dealing continue to live with threatening partners, which – I am sure the Minister of State will agree - is totally and utterly unsafe. We have a housing system that does not recognise the immediate welfare needs of many homeless women and their families who have fled these violent situations. That needs to simply change. In my constituency of Kildare South, Teach Tearmainn is the domestic refuge. It has supported 896 women and 93 children in 2025. Its emergency accommodation supported 32 women and 31 children and it received requests to accommodate nearly 407 women and close to 440 children. Unfortunately, 269 of these requests had to be turned down because the centre is not big enough. At a recent meeting with the CEO of Teach Tearmainn, Lorraine Rowan, I was shocked to hear that Kildare is listed as a secondary priority area following the recent report. Kildare’s population is now heading above 250,000. From recent meetings with Teach Tearmainn and family resource centres in the county, domestic violence has become a serious and increasing worry for both these organisations and every public representative in the county. I am informed that Offaly and Kerry have been changed to priority 1 status since the report. I plead with the Minister of State to work with Teach Tearmainn and to add Kildare, with its growing population and the many cases coming through my office on an almost weekly basis now, to priority 1 status. The need is there now. I am seriously concerned for the welfare of the many women I am currently dealing with. Organisations like Teach Tearmainn are stretched to their limit. Teach Tearmainn also recently applied for a development worker to work on prevention measures, which, we all agree, are so important, and on early intervention with domestic violence sufferers. It was refused. The staff cannot understand why that happened, particularly in light of the case they put forward. Again, I ask the Minister of State to look into this case. Like my colleague, I take this opportunity to thank all the women who have shaped my life through a sense of community, justice, belonging and welfare. However, it is because of this that I raise the issue of childcare. Many of the women I am dealing with are thinking about and are, unfortunately, being forced to give up their careers due to the lack of and the cost of childcare, not only in Kildare but right throughout the State. The lack of childcare in places like Kildare town, Newbridge and Kilcullen is having a profound impact on women and their families. In a recent survey I carried out, 81% of parents in Kilcullen said that the lack of available places is the biggest challenge when looking for childcare, while 77% said they are having to travel outside the county of Kildare to avail of childcare. This issue is greatly impacting on lives and women's participation in employment is seriously affected by these statistics. Nearly half of the parents said they are considering giving up their job due to a lack of available childcare, 20% have already given up their career due to these challenges and 47% said they have had to reduce their working hours. Those statistics are simply not good enough. These are the women we depend on in so many careers. Will the Minister of State look at Kildare and ensure the childcare is provided and also that the cost is reduced?

Many speakers have highlighted various gender gaps across Ireland. However, there is another gender gap I wish to highlight, namely that relating to transport. We are investing heavily in sustainable transport - nearly €600 million across the four local authorities in Dublin - to build various active travel schemes. This figure could reach €1 billion by 2030. Of course, we absolutely need to invest in sustainable transport. This is essential in order to hit our climate targets for public health and also to make sure that the city continues to keep moving as the population increases and the number of journeys people take increase. However, we also need to make sure this transition is fair; right now it is not. According to TII research, four out of five women in Dublin consider having a car to be a necessity. Let us look at why women are saying a car is an absolute necessity. The type of journeys women do are very different from those men do. Men take journeys from point A to point B whereas women's journey choices are very much driven by their caring responsibilities. They are often more complex journeys or what are called trip-change journeys. For example, a woman might collect the kids after school and drop them off to their after-school activities before popping in to see her parents. That all happens in the course of a single trip. In addition, our very education system is adding to the complexity of it. Unlike most European counties, we have a highly gendered education system, that is, a high percentage of single-sex schools. This is something that is repeatedly reported to me by parents and grandparents in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown where people find they have to drop off and collect their children from up to three different schools that are all in different locations. Enterprise Ireland funded research to try to understand some of the complexities around women's transport choices. It found that for cycling there were distinct barriers for women. The further she is away from the city centre, the less likely a woman is to cycle. If a woman is living in an apartment, she is two times less likely to cycle than a man. This is known as the hassle effect as a result of the hassle of having to manage a bike when you are in an apartment. Interestingly, if you are on a higher income, as a woman, you are twice as unlikely to cycle than a man. We think that is down to the presentation penalty. If you are on a higher income, you are also probably at supervisory or managerial level and there are certain expectations of how you should present at work, which may not be compatible with the cycling journey. On the plus side, our levels of cycling to school are going up according to census data, so that is good. However, these gendered effects kick in at a very early age, namely school age. Further research has been done to try to understand this. It found that uniforms, traffic concerns, physical effort, the impact of personal appearance and peer influence all discourage young girls from cycling to and from school. We are spending €600 million on active travel schemes which make cycling more pleasant and safer. As can be seen from everything I have outlined, however, that is only one factor that is going to help address this issue. In fact, safety concerns are regarded as fairly equal between men and women. The most recent walking, wheeling and cycling survey found that most women think it is perfectly safe to cycle in their own neighbourhoods. The real barriers to cycling are social and cultural, and these can be much harder to change. Census data shows that one in five of those who cycle to work are women. The majority of people cycling to work are men. Perhaps all of these dynamics explain why the NTA's canal cordon survey data found there are 3,000 fewer cycling journeys than there were in 2019 while all other forms of transportation have gone up. If the Government is serious about a transition to sustainable transport, we need to ensure that it is fair. To do that, we must recognise that these gender gaps exist in transport and that, for very complex reasons, women are less likely to cycle. We must also acknowledge that women are far more likely to see the car as a necessity. We need to reshape our cities to facilitate sustainable transport but as we are doing so we are also increasing congestion. We are removing filter lanes. For example, it is proposed that all the filter lanes on the N11 be removed. We are closing roads. Multiple roads have been closed in Kilmacud, for example, and we are changing traffic light sequences in order that fewer cars get through junctions. This is inevitably increasing congestion across Dublin. Who will be sitting in traffic because they have picked up the kids, are dropping them to school activities and are hoping to pop in and do a welfare check on their elderly parents? It will be women. At whose expense are we building all of this cycling infrastructure that causes these longer car journeys? It is at the expense of the women who will be sitting in those cars. I will be advocating in favour of the need to address these issues across government. If we want to hit our climate targets and if we want to make Dublin more cycle friendly, we need to do so in a way that effectively accounts for these unique challenges faced by women in Ireland.

It is great to be able to speak here today on International Women's Day and to discuss so many issues facing women right across this country, particularly in our role as representatives to ensure we represent all voices. I say that as a man standing here speaking while thinking about my mother, my three lovely sisters and all the women I meet every week in my constituency clinics and the issues they bring to me, as their representative, directly. It is important to say that Ireland has come a long way over recent decades in terms of equality. We have a long way to go, however. Ireland's equality journey is really only getting started and we have so much yet to achieve to ensure people feel equal in this society and, ultimately, are equal in reality. I will start by talking about the gender pay gap and the importance of trying, not just to resolve it, but to bring greater transparency around it. We know that over time the gender pay gap widens. The only way you can manage something like this is by measuring it and by having transparency. I implore the Minister of State to continue to work on this issue and to ensure that it gets the attention it needs and achieves the desired outcome of greater transparency and greater equality of outcomes for both women and men, because that is what will come off the back of that. It is also important on International Women's Day to talk about the representation of women, the importance of the role women play in politics, and the need for more women to be in roles of leadership in companies and, in particular, here in the Dáil. Whatever it takes to ensure that more women are elected to the Dáil needs to happen, because I firmly believe it would lead to greater representation for women in the Dáil. In the present Dáil, as in the previous one, there has been a massive emphasis on women's healthcare and making it a priority in terms of menopause care, contraception, maternity services and conditions like endometriosis. We need to continue investing more in those areas. My mother practices as a GP in rural County Galway. I have heard from her the impact some of the measures brought in by Government over the past few years have had on patients. That is really important. If we do not make these investments and if we fail our women, then we are failing as a society. It is important that we continue to invest in women's health and make it a priority, so women have better health outcomes. I want Ireland to be a leader in women's health and I think we can do that. Particularly as a man standing here, we need to call out some of the issues brought to my attention when it comes to violence against women, whether domestic, sexual or gender-based violence. It has to be met with stronger supports and laws. Ultimately it all comes down to culture and it is important to say that. There was a Netflix documentary aired last week called "Inside the Manosphere", about the negative impact those influencers are having on young men's attitudes towards women. That is also something that needs to be called out. We all have a shared ambition for women in Ireland to see them succeed and live fantastic lives of equality and opportunity but we need to move that from ambition to action and investment. I believe the focus must now be on delivery and measurable progress in people's lives. I hope the Minister of State can take on some of the matters I have raised.

I welcome the opportunity to mark International Women's Day. The aim and theme this year of Give to Gain was really strong. The point was collaboration and collective action to drive opportunities for women and girls. When women drive, everyone thrives. As an active trade unionist for all of my working life, I see the link between the struggle for women’s rights and workers' rights. When we improve pay and conditions for women, everybody benefits. Families and communities benefit when women get fair pay and better working conditions. I have been lucky to engage with and support many women's groups in my constituency of Fingal East. One group I want to acknowledge is the Swords Women's Shed. Its mission is simple. It is to unite and empower women within the community through creative craft and socialisation. The women's shed was set up in 2022 by two inspirational local women, Glenda and Pamela, in response to the isolation and loss women were going through during Covid. They have been central to organising social, creative, health-led events and so much more, including friendship for other women. I was privileged to attend and address their International Women's Day event. It was brilliant. It was a great event, full of energy and solidarity. The group has grown year on year. I urge the Minister of State to ensure funding is made available to the Swords Women's Shed, like the men's shed, so they can have their own premises and fulfil their potential. The sharing of non-consensual photos or recordings of intimate images is wrong and is criminalised under legislation. The use of AI to generate non-consensual images is also wrong but unfortunately is not criminalised. In February Sinn Féin introduced an amendment to the harmful communications Act. This amendment will ensure that AI-generated sexualised and abusive images would be outlawed. Government needs to act on this to ensure the amendment is enacted as soon as possible. I also highlight the challenges for women who want to access help with addiction. Women use drugs and alcohol for different reasons to men and their journey is different to the journey that men go through. Women face different challenges and obstacles. Unfortunately, drug treatment and rehabilitation services are designed by men for men. It is great to have an international women's day but not once a year. We should be looking after women every day. Resources need to be put in place to support the community and voluntary groups along with our SNAs, carers and disabled women. The list goes on and on. We need to allow them to reach their full potential.

The first International Women's Day was observed in 1911 following calls for women's rights, including the right to vote and to hold public office. It was officially adopted by the United Nations in 1975. The day focuses on celebrating progress while urging pay equality, educational opportunities and increased representation and leadership. This year I was invited to a few events, and I was asked to make a few videos. I did not go to any events, and I did not make a video because my heart was not in it. I could not muster the enthusiasm to celebrate women in power, women in business and women in leadership. Why? It is because every single day and in every single email, phone call or appointment in my clinics I meet women who have not seen the benefits of equality, equity and empowerment. Since I was elected I have met women in the worst possible situations and who have been abused, threatened, raped, controlled, dominated and demeaned, women who are shadows of themselves and who are silenced and scared. Early in my working life I worked in a domestic violence refuge for women in London. I was angered then about the way women were treated, and 28 years later I am still horrified by the way women are still being treated. They are still in the same situations and the law has barely moved on to fully protect them. Women are not being protected from their abusers and society is still not calling them out. There are people still having a pint in the pub with the perpetrator and they are still not calling that behaviour out in the workplace or many other places and there is still silence. We saw a parade for St. Patrick's Day in Ballinrobe, County Mayo, yesterday that had a float simulating rape. Why was a float dedicated to the Epstein files allowed, and why, when children were present at a parade was any such depiction of rape allowed? It is absolutely horrific and joking about rape is part of the problem we have in this society. Outside Leinster House today we will see a protest against proposed development of the mother and baby home site in Bessborough. There are no burial records for 859 children. There are records for their baptism but not for their burial. These mothers and their babies were treated horrifically, and their horror continues today. There is an interconnectivity of abuse of mothers and their babies that continued into the abuses in industrial and reformatory schools and other institutions of abuse. I notice outside Leinster House that the Countess Markiewicz statue has been moved to make way for the Daniel O'Connell statue. It seems like a small thing, I admit, but for centuries women have been erased and moved out of the way and this is continuing today. Girls and young women in this world are still not able to access education. There are 122 million girls remaining out of school globally. Adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 in south Asia are three times more likely than boys to not be in education, training or employment. There are almost 50 million girls and young women who are not able to read or write a single sentence. I will truly celebrate International Women's Day when half of the seats in this Chamber are women, when the people who are in here represent the people outside here and when every girl gets the same opportunity as her boy counterpart.

I will use my time today celebrating International Women's Day, to celebrate a specific group. That is single mums. We are actually closer to Single Parents Day, which falls on Saturday, 21 March, than we are to women's day, which was a couple of weeks ago. I realise there are also single dads. I put that on the record straight away but 85% of one-parent families are headed by women. The experience of one-parent families in Irish society is very much a women's issue. For my daughter's entire upbringing, I brought her up alone. We comprised one of those one-parent families. One-parent families are significantly worse-off than, if you like, traditional families in Irish society. They are statistically one of the groups in society most likely to experience poverty. Some 46.3% of one-parent families live in enforced deprivation, which is nearly three times the figure for two-parent families. Women in one-parent families are far more likely to have to take unpaid leave, move to part-time employment or leave the labour market due to a lack of affordable childcare. Focus Ireland recently found that 57% of homeless families in this country were one-parent families. Even though I would say we have moved on from what was a time of real stigma for one-parent families, I think we have lost the connection between the very dark history this country has in terms of the treatment of women who became pregnant outside of marriage and chose to raise children outside of marriage and our mother and baby homes and Magdalen laundries. I believe that has left a legacy in Ireland. Although the direct stigma is not as frequent, single-parent families and single mums are still seen as inferior. There is so much of value in being in a one-parent family that is never called out in Irish society. For example, a child in a one-parent family has a single line of authority, often something that can be better than a fractured two-parent family. They also have that unique bond, I believe, particularly where there is a single parent with one child. There are, therefore, ways in which I believe my family was a very positive place to bring up my daughter that I do not think are celebrated by Irish families. We still see that very traditional attitude that children should experience a mother and father in the home. Indeed, I remember my daughter being appalled during the marriage equality referendum at the posters that lined our streets saying every child deserved a mother and a father. Her father left Ireland when she was ten days old and never came back and never supported us as a family, so to say that to her really denied her her reality and it spoke to her as if our family was inferior. There are many fixes that would help one-parent families because they are structurally vulnerable. There are so many ways in which the structure of our society simply makes them vulnerable by default, but there are fixes that would help all of society and also help single parents disproportionately. A public model of childcare, social and affordable housing, collective bargaining and stronger workers' rights would all help single parents more than they would help other parts of the population because they are so structurally denied. Gingerbread is a one-parent service in Scotland and the rest of the UK that is supporting a single-parent family day this year by talking about the fact that single parents are superheroes. They are the ones who stick around. They are the resilient parent who manages despite all those structural disadvantages. Today, I wish to acknowledge the superheroes in Ireland who are single mums.

The older I get and the longer I am in politics, the more frustrating I find it when International Women's Day rolls around every year. We come in here and people from all the benches say the same things. We talk about the challenges women face and the progress being made. It sort of seems, though, that everything is just set aside for that day, and then we all go back to our business. Those fundamental structural and cultural changes that we need to see really have not happened yet. Last Friday, when I was thinking about what I was going to say in this speech, I went onto The Irish Times website and was blown away as I went through the different news articles. There was an article about the family of a woman murdered by her husband in Dublin being distressed after the killer was granted day release. There was an article about the Ana Kriégel murder. There was an article about Ashling Murphy's murder. There was an article about the doctor who was jailed for eight years for raping a nurse as she slept. There was an article about the Natalie McNally murder trial. It was article after article, and they were all saying the same thing: that there was a huge problem in this country with gender-based violence. It is a huge problem and we are not tackling it. I would recommend that everyone have a look online at the site of an influencer called Chloe Koyce. A number of months ago, she put up a video that showed someone following her. She was on a night out with her friends. A man followed her into her hotel, into the lift, took off his belt, stood behind her, made sort of gestures with the belt and then, essentially, got out on the same floor in her hotel. If it was not for the fact that her mother was in the room when she knocked on the door, she is convinced something awful would have happened to her. If we look at that video, we will see how scared she was when she was relaying the story. What was really stark to me was how she kept on saying that she did not want the story to be about her and that she wanted everyone to know she did absolutely everything right. Her friends went out and made sure they saw one another get into the taxis. Her friend got into a taxi and stood by the door of the taxi watching Chloe go into the hotel to make sure she got through her hotel door safely. This man just slipped in right behind. It was incredible. Girls and young women in this country are made to feel unsafe all the time. They have to make themselves small and unseen. They make excuses when they are treated in that manner. Now, that chap was convicted. He was given a six-month suspended sentence. Part of it was because he had had 14 pints. I do not care how many pints he had. You do not follow a young woman, you do not take your belt off and you do not threaten someone. It is disgraceful. We need to look at all these instances and ensure there is accountability for what happens. There can be no excuse. All that does is it makes every other woman's life in this country smaller and smaller as they try to make themselves disappear so they do not suffer gender-based violence. I ask the Minister of State to look at that video. It is really eye-opening.

Deputy Whitmore outlined many examples. Last week, when International Women's Day was on, we could see so many jokes around why we needed an International Women's Day and if there was an international men's day. Deputy Whitmore has just pointed out exactly why we still need this day, when so many of us are still putting on our live locations when we are getting into a taxi or walking home. International Women's Day is a celebration around the world and in Ireland. It is also a warning that we should not be complacent because the reality for women and girls around the world is that progress is never guaranteed. Right now, we are seeing a rights rollback for women. There are rollbacks on reproductive rights and a reversal of gender equality commitments by some governments. We are seeing some governments withdrawing or refusing to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which is the treaty opposing violence against women and domestic violence. The UN has warned that the regression of women's rights worldwide is occurring due to discriminatory legal frameworks and social norms and gaps between laws and implementation, as well as conflicts, which we know grossly affect women and girls. Many of us in the last few days will have watched Louis Theroux's viral documentary, "Inside the Manosphere". It was shocking in very many ways and I think sad in many ways, but it also offered many insights as to why the manosphere was gaining momentum. The manosphere often promotes narratives that portray women as a threat to men's status or well-being. While there are at times legitimate concerns about men's mental health or social pressures, it should not be seen as a licence to force accountability for this on women. Often, these narratives amplify misogyny, encourage hostility towards women and give rise to extreme ideologies. It is clear that these narratives attempt to shape attitudes among a younger generation, influence their behaviour online and contribute to a modern culture of harassment due to gender. It is imperative that we develop effective responses to the manosphere to promote healthy and, importantly, respectful engagement and dialogue between genders. In Ireland, the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030 sets out seven clear goals. These include ambition and opportunity, because too many girls rule themselves out of STEM leadership and public life, but not due to their ability. There is also safety, because domestic, sexual and gender-based violence remains a reality for too many women and girls. Economic independence is there because women still earn less on average and are more likely to be in insecure or part-time employment. Health and well-being are included because women's health, from endometriosis to menopause to mental health, is far too overlooked. There is care, because women continue to carry the greatest share of unpaid care and the mental load that entails. Then there is the goal of challenging stereotypes, because expectations about how women and girls should look or act still shape the opportunities that may be afforded to them. I often hear that I am not smiling enough, waving enough or friendly enough, and I often wonder if those comments go to my male counterparts as much as they go to women. Deputy Cleere is very smiley over there, but I think that is not a comment that male TDs would get much of. Another of the goals is ensuring that the voices of women and girls are heard to help shape the laws and policies that shape their lives. The commitment to the national strategy for women and girls matters. It serves as a vital roadmap to safeguard rights, increase access to justice and opportunity and ensure that women and girls enjoy their lives free from discrimination, fear and violence. When we look at the Houses of the Oireachtas, over 25% of this House is made up of women, but that is only 44 out of 174 TDs. We have made stronger progress in the Seanad with 45% representation but we really have a long way to go. It is not about women versus men; it never has been. It is not a competition or about one being better than the other. It is about recognising that we experience the world differently and those differences matter when decisions are being made. We see it in everyday life; in the school canteen, in the factory break room, or even in the common areas of Leinster House. People naturally gather in groups shaped by their experiences and often their gender. The conversations at those tables are often different - not better or worse, but different. If those different perspectives are missing from the decision-making table, then the decisions we are making are, by definition, incomplete. This is not about balance for the sake of it but it is about making sure the Ireland we shape in this House reflects the full reality of the people we represent. I give a nod to my constituency colleagues who are women and who bring their unique experience and skillsets to their roles and include local councillors, Donna Sheridan, Alma Gallagher and Marie-Thérèse Duffy, and our MEPs, Maria Walsh and Nina Carberry. They all, along with many other professionals around the country, provide their unique experience, be it professional, personal or local, and we are lucky to have them working for their communities. We need many more like them until representation is equal.

The story of modern Ireland cannot be told without recognising the central role of women in shaping our society, economy and national identity. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak and mark International Women’s Day, and recognise the extraordinary contribution that women make to our families, communities and country, which they will continue to do for our future. Throughout Irish history, women have played a vital role in shaping the nation we are today. One of the most powerful examples is Countess Markievicz, a pioneer of Irish political life and founding member of Fianna Fáil in 1926, who became the first woman elected to this Parliament and is a symbol of courage, leadership and determination throughout the country. Her legacy reminds us that progress is possible when barriers are challenged and opportunities are opened up. Today, across Ireland, women continue to inspire in every walk of life. We this see this in the arts through the incredible talent of Ireland’s own Jessie Buckley whose success on the international stage has showcased Irish creativity and talent to the world. To cap it off, winning an Oscar last week was absolutely incredible. Her story of resilience is inspiring. In sport, we see it in champions like Katie Taylor, whose discipline, humility and achievements have inspired a generation of young people across Ireland. Again, another world champion. I was at a parade yesterday in Gorsebridge and the Paulstown boxing club had a float. I was absolutely blown away by the fact that the majority of the young people doing the demonstrations were female. That is a nod to the Paulstown boxing club and the great Ollie O'Neill and Darren O’Neill but also to Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington and the women who have forged a lonely path at times to get female boxing to the Olympics. To have world champions in Ireland in boxing is incredible. We also see it in young women representing their communities with pride and confidence, such as Katelyn Cummins, a very proud Kilkenny woman. She was a Laois Rose who represented her community with pride and confidence and went on to win the Rose of Tralee and "Dancing with the Stars" last week. Her journey reflects the talent, positivity and ambition young Irish women bring to every single opportunity they might get. For me, International Women's Day has a deeply personal meaning. I am the proud father of four daughters and like every parent, I want them to grow up in a society where their opportunities are not limited by their gender, where their ambitions are encouraged and where their talents are recognised and valued. I want equality of opportunity for my children, not numbers for the sake of it, and for them to get the same opportunities as everybody else. My hope for them and for every girl growing up in Ireland is that they will have the confidence to dream big, the support to pursue those dreams, and the freedom to shape their own futures. While this week is a week of celebration, it is also a stark reminder that we must continue working to achieve true equality. When women are supported to succeed, as I outlined, our communities thrive, our economy grows stronger and our society becomes fairer and more inclusive for everybody. As we mark International Women’s Day, let us celebrate the achievements of women across Ireland. Let us honour their contributions past and present, and renew our commitment in this House to building a future where every girl and woman can reach her full potential.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak here today to mark International Women's Day. It is one of the greatest honours of my life to be elected as a TD, a position that was in the past, and even today remains, a male dominated one. To stand here among such brilliant republican women who represent their communities with such strength and integrity is something I am immensely proud of. However, while we celebrate the presence of these incredible women, we must be honest about the realities we still face. Despite making up half the population women account for just 25% of TDs in the Dáil. International Women's Day is not only a day to celebrate what has been achieved but it is a day to reflect on what has to be done. While so much has been achieved, there is so much more to be done. We know we must not measure progress solely by the women who rise to the top of their fields. True progress means that as we rise, we rise together. We must not leave other women behind, especially those who are too often overlooked. Let us look at the recent controversy caused by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s plan to cut SNA posts in schools across the State. Over 90% of SNAs are women, many of them working with zero long-term job security and left on rolling 12-month contracts. Despite everything they contribute to our children, schools and communities, they are still fighting for basic workers' rights. The Minister should be working to improve their conditions and not chipping away at them. These women deserve security, respect and recognition. The same can be said for carers. As everyone here knows, the work that family carers do in communities across Ireland is vital. The pressure they take off our health service cannot be measured in words alone. In so many cases, it is the mother in a family who gives up her job to become a full-time carer, caring for the elderly or those living with disabilities, for loved ones who need support to live with dignity and independence. This work is nothing short of extraordinary, yet it remains largely invisible to those in Government. Let us not forget that it was for working women like SNAs and carers that International Women’s Day first came into being. It began as a day of action, a day to demand better working rights, conditions and as a day for those who too often are ignored. I congratulate St. Kieran’s College on its well-deserved win yesterday in Croke Park. However, when it was the girls in Loreto Kilkenny who won their final, they did not have the same luxury of playing in Croke Park. Today as we pay tribute to the Irish women reaching for the stars, the likes of Jessie Buckley or Kilkenny’s own Mia Griffin, one of the first Irish women to take part in the Tour de France, let us reflect on what has been gained and the fights that have yet to be won.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this today. In doing so, I recognise the role women have played in bringing about revolutionary change in this country. Indeed, they have been to the forefront of it on many occasions, including the fight for independence, the right to vote, social changes, workers' rights, trade union rights, economic changes and in every area of politics. In recent decades women have fought in the campaigns for divorce, contraception and gender equality. We need to acknowledge the cruel manner in which girls and young women were treated in Ireland, particularly in industrial schools in decades gone by, and in the Magdalen laundries. What happened to them was nothing short of inhuman and we must never allow ourselves to go back to a situation like that again. Most of those institutions were run by Catholic religious orders, which is an issue for the Catholic church, and I say that as a Catholic. However, what is often conveniently ignored by sections of the media, in particular The Irish Times, is that some were Protestant-run - the Bethany Home, for example. The children in those homes suffered a cruel fate and abuse, which has been deliberately ignored and suppressed by the media. All attempts to highlight it by those campaigners, who have tried to campaign for the victims of the Protestant-run schools, have been ignored and censored over the years. You would have to ask why. Everything needs to be brought out into the daylight. We need to deal with all the matters of the past and move on from them. While great progress has been made on many issues, there is still a lot of fundamental change that is required. In the area of domestic abuse, which is mainly against women, Laois still does not have a domestic abuse refuge. Laois domestic violence services in Portlaoise provide an excellent service for people but there is a need for that to be addressed. In regard to online abuse, we had the case two weeks ago of the awful abuse of a young woman in University College Dublin, UCD, who was allegedly raped, drugged and photographed. The photographs and vile abuse about her circulated throughout the school. The area of childcare needs to be addressed. Working-class women in particular face financial hardship and issues around access to help so there is still work to be done. While we can clap ourselves on the back, there is a lot more to be done before we can really do it.

Unfortunately, International Women’s Day was not a day of celebration; it was a day of rage. There is rage that we have rising levels of misogyny, epidemic levels of gender-based violence and genocide and militarism increasing around the globe. In Dublin, thousands of people gathered for International Women’s Day. It was a very large turnout made up of survivors of sexual assault and women from Palestine, Iran and Sudan. One thing we have to register is that it was also about the Epstein files. There was huge anger that the Taoiseach would go and celebrate the national holiday of this country with the man responsible for increasing misogyny, who is legitimising sexual assault, openly talking about sexually assaulting women and who is named thousands of times in the Epstein files. The message that sent was that sexual assault of women and children does not matter. It is also hugely hypocritical to hear the Tánaiste and Taoiseach talking about Conor McGregor being the worst of Ireland. Do they seriously think that Donald Trump is any better than Conor McGregor? My feelings on Conor McGregor are pretty clear. They are both convicted of rape in civil cases. I also want to mention that floats in three parades yesterday trivialised sexual assault of children, with a big banner about the Epstein files and people in states of undress. It speaks to the level of misogyny we have among young boys and men in this society that something like that would happen, and that there is no accountability yet as to how it happened. A third of young men think wives should obey their husbands. That shows that the manosphere, which has been operating since 2009 – it is not new at all – has accelerated. Nothing at all that the Government can identify is going to be done about that. I refer to the grooming of young boys to hate women and radicalising young men against women. It seems that this is fine in this society. The Government would not even tackle the algorithms. I do not have time to make other points I wanted to make but institutional abuse is very prevalent. I have loads of cases of people contacting me since UCD, in the Garda, the medical community and the Army as well.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is rights, justice and action for all women and girls. As we reflect on this today, we should bring our focus to the women and girls who have been denied access to justice and full vindication of their human rights in Ireland today. International Women’s Day is an opportunity to advocate for meaningful change, so in the brief time I have, there are three I things I would like to mention that need to be advanced by the Government to support and protect all women and girls here in Ireland. First is the national strategy for women and girls. The Government launched the new strategy last year and the implementation plan for that is being drawn up at the moment. It is vitally important that this strategy is not siloed to a single Department and that, instead, it is an all-of-government approach in regard to its implementation to make sure that is done in as ambitious a way as possible. Women and girls are half the population and the implementation of this strategy should be the work of every single Department. Second, we need to recognise that childcare should not just be a mechanism for getting women into the workforce but instead recognise that it is absolutely key to unlocking women’s participation in all forms of social, cultural, economic and political life. I was pleased, as Minister, to be able to take steps to drive down the cost of childcare while I was in government. This Government needs to go further and focus on care as a form of work in our economic model, recognising that accessible childcare close to communities is good for families and is also aligned with our broader climate ambitions. Finally, on the urgent need to protect survivors of violence, we need to introduce stronger legal protections that would allow women and children in abusive situations to remain safely in the family home. A recent paper from the National Women’s Council of Ireland found that the housing crisis is placing women in an impossible situation where they have to choose between staying in the home with their abuser or entering homelessness. In addition to providing better emergency accommodation in all counties, we should ensure a legal framework exists whereby perpetrators of domestic violence can be removed.

Over the past week, a lot of people have been watching Louis Theroux’s exposé of the online manosphere, where manfluencers peddle misogyny, racism, homophobia and transphobia, which is then force-fed to young men via toxic social media algorithms. Like the big tech companies and the depraved billionaires who profit from these toxic algorithms, the only value system the manfluencers have is money, maximising engagement and clicks by making the most extreme content they can think of and then monetising the attention of young men and boys by flogging them club memberships, cryptocurrency and other sorts of snake oil. Young men and boys who buy what big tech and the manosphere are selling pay the price financially and emotionally. Anyone who takes Andrew Tate’s advice on relationships is likely to end up as an incel or an abuser. The highest price, of course, is paid by women and girls – not just those unfortunate enough to end up in a relationship with these damaged men or to be assaulted by them but every woman and girl who is now living in a climate of misogyny that is getting worse by the day. Research by Women’s Aid has found that two thirds of young men hold or do not disagree with traditionalist, sexist beliefs like “a man’s worth is measured by power and control over others”, and that “real men should not have to care about women’s opinions or feelings”. I am sure Donald Trump and Elon Musk would agree. Does the Government agree? I presume it would say “No” but it acts as if it does because it has refused to turn off the toxic social media algorithms that are normalising misogyny and hate. It did not listen to the experts or to the artificial intelligence, AI, committee when it voted down our Bill to do precisely that. I also call on the Minister to show some respect for women and girls by supporting the call of survivors of mother and baby homes not to build over a mass grave at Bessborough. They will be outside the Dáil protesting very shortly.

There are many issues I could speak about today. I could speak about violence against women, which is still far too prevalent. I could speak about how women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds continue to face disproportionate disadvantage or about how caring role and professions traditionally carried out by women remained undervalued in our society. I could speak about the gender pay gap, which many companies continue to try and hide on websites. I could speak about the tsunami of research that shows women in leadership positions and diversity lead to better profitability, stronger governance and greater creativity in business. Despite that evidence, the glass ceiling remains in far too many sectors. Today, I want to focus on steps the Government could take that would genuinely help to level the playing field between men and women. When my twins were born, my husband had just started a new job and, like many families, we sat down and tried to figure out how we could make it all work. He was entitled to paternity leave but his employer would not top it up. Instead of taking that paternity leave, he took two weeks of annual leave – not because that is what we wanted but because financially we felt we had no choice. After the cost of in vitro fertilisation, IVF, and suddenly needing two of everything – very happily – those early weeks were already a huge adjustment. Taking paternity leave on a low, flat-rate payment simply was not financially realistic for us at that time. Those two weeks of holidays were almost half of his annual leave gone. This story is not unique; it is repeated in homes right across the country and it is the reality that many families are facing. When children arrive, families are making decisions in the middle of exhaustion, financial pressure and the reality of keeping a household going. Too often, the outcome is that mothers take a step back from work while fathers return quickly, not because that is what families want but because, financially, they feel they have little or no choice. That is not personal failure; that is policy failure. If we are serious about equality, we have to change that. Equality must mean equality for men as well, and fathers should have a genuine opportunity to take time out of the workplace for caring responsibilities and to spend time with their children, not just in theory but also in reality. We have 26 weeks of maternity benefit, two weeks of paternity benefit and nine weeks of parent's benefit for each parent, but those payments are all at a low, flat weekly rate of €299. For many families, that simply does not reflect the reality of their income, rent or mortgage, or the cost of living. International evidence consistently shows that Ireland ranks among the lowest in the OECD when it comes to income replacement during parental leave because our system relies on a flat rate and we are seeing the wider impact. The average number of children born to a woman in Ireland in her lifetime has now fallen to 1.47, the lowest level in more than 50 years. Families are making decisions about whether and when to have children in the context of financial pressure and a lack of support. If we are serious about equality and supporting families, we need to act. There are three practical steps we can take. The first is to increase maternity, paternity and parent's benefit payment so that families can actually afford to take the leave to which they are entitled. If we want fathers to take that leave and mothers to remain in the workforce, the payment cannot be a barrier; it has to enable parents. Second, we have to actively encourage and normalise men taking paternity and parent's leave. Currently, paternity leave is only taken by approximately 50% of men and even fewer take parent's leave, only 25% to 30%. We need public awareness campaigns. We need it to be normalised in every sector from construction to politics to business. Third, we have to set out a clear pathway towards more equal leave for mothers and fathers, which is actually taken up by both. I am not asking for this to be done overnight but there has to be a clear direction of travel and we have to see the uptake of these leaves increase. This year, child benefit spending is projected to fall by €320 million. Using some of that money to strengthen the various parental leave payments would be a practical and meaningful way to support families and advance equality. Equality cannot just be something we celebrate once a year. It has to live in the policies that shape everyday families' lives and the real choices they can make. If we get those policies right, we will support women, men and families and build a fairer future for our daughters and sons.

International Women's Day can and does mean different things to people. For my part, I have always seen value where celebration is productive and furthers the cause, rights or conditions of women or children or our understanding of these. It is also appropriate to reflect on, commemorate and educate people about the women who have gone before us whose contribution to society and our communities has gone unmarked and uncelebrated or whose contributions may have been entirely unknown about or misattributed through ignorance or design. What I cannot abide, however, is pithy backslapping for the sake of it. While significant progress has been made in Ireland in the last century, there is little celebration in the bar being raised from the floor. We have only to look around the Chamber, outside it perhaps, to debate this, to get fair representation of the progress being made in striving for a truly equal society. I welcome the Government's commitment to zero tolerance of domestic and gender-based violence. However, the strategy was adopted in 2022 and is due to run until the end of this year. I am not sure I see the progress to zero tolerance. I remain unconvinced the Government will reach its commitment to double the number of refuge spaces available to those fleeing domestic and gender-based violence. I have yet to hear the Government acknowledge that the target is an ambition that would see us with only half the number of spaces mandated under the Istanbul Convention. In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, the Government has sent incredibly mixed messages about whether or when it intends to live up to its commitment to deliver a refuge in both counties or expects it to only happen in one county with the other still being one of the nine counties without a domestic violence refuge. All the while, we hear many policy announcements on various legislative matters, but a year into the Government, I have yet to see one related legislative measure fully pass through these Houses. Where in the name of God is the delivery of the promised plan to deliver childcare capped at €200 per month within the first 100 days of Government. For International Women's Day this year, my message to the Government is that we appreciate the rhetoric, but it is long past time it progressed beyond the rhetoric and media opportunities to meaningful policy delivery.

I am grateful to speak on International Women's Day. I take this opportunity to remember the great Dolores Keane, who passed away recently. She was a wonderful woman who was raised in a small cottage in the west of Ireland by her aunts Rita and Sarah. She went on to amazing things. With her unique voice and her charm she represented Ireland remarkably over many years. The likes of Dolores, who had such a special talent, we will sadly not see again. May she rest in peace. I know everyone in the House will join me in offering our condolences. Dolores Keane died in the week we are celebrating International Women's Day. It is not lost on anyone that she passed away in a week when we are celebrating women in this country and right across the world. Dolores spoke openly in recent years about her successful battle against breast cancer. We can do a lot more to protect women in this country in relation to screening. I have seen many statistics on breast cancer and survival rates, the delays in treatment in some hospitals and the backlog that exists and has existed for some time in breast cancer screening services and the geographical disparity is concerning. Breast cancer affects almost every family at some stage, and we need to ensure the best possible outcomes, early diagnosis and early treatment are available for all women. Some 250,000 fewer people were screened for breast cancer, cervical cancer and bowel cancer in 2020 than in 2019 - 250,000 fewer people. This was as a result of the Government shutdown due to Covid-19. It is incredible that those services were shut and that, as a result, 250,000 fewer people were screened. Many screening services are still playing catch-up from those shutdowns and many cancers have gone undiagnosed until it was too late. In my constituency recently, screening was paused for a gentleman, not because he was not ready, but because the system could not cope. That is incredible. Not only are there delays and backlogs in screening, but there are major delays in treatment as well. Last year, the HSE told us that 72% of patients deemed fit for radiation treatment start it within three weeks of being diagnosed. This means that one quarter of cancer patients who are ready for treatment are left waiting for three weeks to receive radiation treatment. I have seen this in my work in weekly constituency clinics and it is devastating to have to sit down with constituents who tell me they are ready for treatment and know their cancer is progressing. I try to get them seen, but the system cannot facilitate them. Early diagnosis and early treatment are fundamentally important. In recent weeks, Aontú discovered there is a 15% difference in breast cancer survival rates depending on the county a woman is from. A woman from Limerick has only an 80% chance of being alive in five years after breast cancer but a woman from Cavan has a 95% chance of surviving cancer within a five-year period. That is really quite incredible. There are many targets from the Irish Cancer Society that are still not being reached. There is so much more we can and should do and it is important to raise that in the context of International Women's Day.

I echo the sentiments of Deputy Lawless on Dolores Keane. She was a truly great singer and my sympathies go to her family on her passing, which is a great loss to the country. I also pay tribute to three extraordinary Irish women who continue to lift the country's spirits, namely, Jessie Buckley, Katie Taylor and Katie McCabe. Jessie Buckley made history just days ago by becoming the first Irishwoman ever to win the Best Actress Oscar for her powerful performance in "Hamnet". She stood proudly on that world stage, spoke from the heart and did it without ever needing to change who she is, including keeping her Irish accent which she has long defended publicly. Her win was not just an award but a moment of pride for every community in Ireland who has watched her rise. As she is from our neighbouring county of Kerry, we are extremely proud of her. Katie Taylor is a legend of Irish sport. At 39 she has confirmed her final professional fight will take place in Dublin this summer, likely in July or August. Croke Park is still her dream venue and it should be the venue. After 20 years at the top, including Olympic gold, undisputed titles and being an inspiration to millions, she wants to finish where her journey began, which is right here at home. That upcoming fight will not be just a sporting event but a national celebration. Katie McCabe is a great ambassador for Ireland and her club Arsenal. She has been playing at the top level for the past number of years. She, Jessie Buckley and Katie Taylor show the very best of Irish womanhood: courage, talent, humility and heart. We salute them and every woman in Ireland who keeps pushing boundaries and proudly carrying our flag. I wish to speak about health issues for women. While there have been improvements in women's healthcare in recent years and great care is provided to our female constituents there is still plenty of room for improvement. An area that urgently needs attention is early access to a lymphoedema clinic in Cork University Hospital. When a woman undergoes a mastectomy she is already dealing with trauma, her fear and the loss of a part of her body, but many women then face post-mastectomy lymphoedema, which is a painful, chronic swelling caused by lymph fluid building up in the arms, hands, chest and legs after lymph node removal or radiation. It affects mobility daily as well as activity, appearance, confidence and even a woman’s ability to stay connected socially. Through no fault of their own many women feel embarrassed and isolated. Specialist lymphoedema clinics provide compression garments, exercise programmes, skincare guidance and manual lymphatic drainage. These supports are essential for recovery yet in Cork University Hospital women are waiting 12 to 18 months just to be seen. A constituent of ours has already waited over a year and is now being told it could be another six months before she gets an appointment. Her consultant has repeatedly sought help for her but still she waits. This is not acceptable. Early access to lymphoedema care is not a luxury but a vital part of a woman’s physical and emotional recovery after breast cancer treatment. These women have already been through enough and should not have to battle waiting lists on top of everything else. I also raise a serious issue affecting a young woman from my constituency. Emma O’Shea is just 26 years old and is living with Friedreich's ataxia. This is a cruel, fast-moving disease and every month that passes Emma loses more of her independence. There is a treatment called Skyclarys which is approved across Europe and in the USA. Patients elsewhere are already benefitting but in Ireland Emma and others cannot access it despite it being approved over a year ago. That delay is simply not acceptable. Ireland approves only a fraction of orphan drugs and people with FA do not have years to wait. Time for them means a decline. I am asking for two simple things. Will the Minister of State intervene to ensure the HSE concludes reimbursement talks for Skyclarys? Do these delays reflect the access promised in the new rare diseases strategy? Emma and the FA community cannot be left behind while the rest of Europe moves on. I have written to the Minister of State about this and have also submitted parliamentary questions, so I would appreciate it if she could come back to me on this. While talking about women we must not forget the carers of the country, predominantly women, who give up so much of their lives to care for their loved ones. The Government has raised the means test for the carer’s allowance but the test must be abolished in total. Carers must be recognised financially for all they do.

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak about International Women's Day. I congratulate Jessie Buckley for becoming the first Irishwoman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress. Her success is a powerful reminder Ireland continues to perform strongly on the global stage but while we celebrate achievements like that, we must also look inward and ask whether the systems and structures here at home are truly setting women and girls up to succeed. I am concerned there is a narrative taking hold that the progress we have made on gender equality is enough because I do not believe it is. Progress is not something we achieve once and keep forever; the gains we make must keep evolving or they stop being gains at all. For many women it is not getting easier but harder. Families are facing enormous pressures due to the cost of childcare, the availability of it, the cost of staying at home and the cost of returning to work. Parents find themselves performing constant solution-gymnastics, especially in the first year of a child’s life as they try to make childcare, employment and family finances work. We have to make the system evolve with the times to keep up with gender equality and make it work for families. The motherhood penalty remains very real. Women experience an average earnings drop of around 27% after their first child is born and that statistic alone should make us pause but it is even more concerning that gender inequality is beginning earlier than motherhood. Research from the Growing up in Ireland study has identified a sizeable gender pay gap already among 25-year-old men and women and that is largely driven by the sectors they enter. Women are far more likely to work in education- and health-related fields while men are more likely to work in higher paying sectors such as industry, information and communications technology, finance and real estate. Of course we should support young women to enter higher paying sectors but that cannot be the whole solution. If we are serious about gender equality we must also encourage young men to enter care-related professions. Our country already faces workforce challenges in areas such as social work and therapies, education and disability services and bringing more men into those professions would benefit not only gender equality but the sustainability of those essential public services. One of the most powerful ways to unlock gender equality is by degendering care roles both in the workplace and the home. One of the clearest ways to do that is normalising the taking of parental leave by fathers and normalising flexible work. Although progress has been made, the figures show there is still a long way to go. According to the reply to a parliamentary question I recently asked, a quarter of men are still not taking paternity leave and about a third are not taking parents' leave. A big reason for that is the financial hit. International evidence shows the difference father's leave can make. Research in Sweden found each additional month a father spends on parental leave increases the mothers earnings by about 6.7%. When fathers take leave mothers return to work earlier and the gender pay gap narrows. We are also seeing it is not just fathers who cannot afford to take leave as mothers also choose not to take parents' leave. This correlates with the number of women who do not get an uplift in their maternity leave, so women are stuck in a catch-22 situation. If they want to return to work, they may not be able to secure childcare or if they want to stay at home longer, they cannot afford to, so parental leave must be financially viable for both mothers and fathers. At present, Ireland’s maternity benefit replaces less than a third of average earnings. This is one of the lowest rates in Europe and the only system that still provides a flat rate payment. This must change. We should also move towards pay-related maternity, paternity and parental leave as outlined in the programme for Government. Our family leave system must work harder for hardworking parents. Another important step is expanding access to flexible work. At present employees who are parents or carers can request flexible working arrangements under the work life balance Act. The legislation also requires a review by March 2026, to include whether the right to request flexible work should be extended to all employees. I take this opportunity to ask the Minister of State where that review stands, what the timeline for it is and whether the Government will commit to expanding the right to request flexible work to all employees. We have the directive on pay transparency and also the gender pay gap legislation. We have to make sure that the information about the gender pay gap is made available to people on the portal as soon as possible, so people are able to see which companies are delivering and which are not, and where we need to focus our attention.

A day like this helps us to pause the cycle all of us are in and gives us a chance to reflect on how far we have come, or indeed what other work needs to be done, particularly in the context of International Women's Day. I reflect on my mother, who had a great social conscience and formed the politics I stand for today. I would like to acknowledge that. Of course, as you grow up then, you are influenced by your family, your wife and your daughter. My daughter Alva bullied me a lot but she got me on the right course and kept me informed. Now, as a granddad, I listen to my granddaughters, Ellie, Robin, Phoebe and Nancy. I see the way they are influenced by people who achieved something in sport, for example, because they are all involved in sport. There is the likes of Mary Fitzgerald, a Paralympian who contested in the shot put. She is a huge figure in Kilkenny and someone who has given great hope to all of those who want to participate in sport. In terms of administration, I listened to Linda Kenny from Carlow speaking about her input into sport, the organisation of sport, clubs and so on. All of it was focused on women, young children and general community participation and achievement in the sporting world. Katelyn Cummins has been mentioned. Again, she is a figure young people can look to and say that can be achieved and can be done. Josephine O'Neill is the current president of Macra na Feirme. I listened carefully to a contribution she made locally in Kilkenny and at a recent county council meeting, where she was honoured. I could not but be impressed by her grasp of what needed to be done, not just in the sector that she represents but in society in general and how we can improve things. In the audiovisual room I saw a group of young women who are affected by Friedrich's ataxia. They put forward their views in what I considered to be a stunning, passionate contribution asking the Minister to make the appropriate drug available to deal with their issue and prolong their lives. All of that together represents a positivity that we can acknowledge. On the other side of this, I have listened to contributions from young women, in particular affected by Tusla and about hearings in the courtroom, what is said to them, how it is said to them and how it treats them badly and does not acknowledge fully what they are going through. Quite frankly, I think that is a disgusting element of society, a disgusting part of our social system and our court system, that they are not acknowledged in a way that respects the problems they have. Their lives are being stolen from them and they are turning to the system, which it seems turns against them. I am shocked by the stories they have told me and by the way they were treated. Likewise in relation to the Defence Forces, I have listened very carefully to what women who were members of the force had to say. How far have we got with that? How far have we reached out to those who are affected to give them some hope this system is listening to them? You would think the system is deaf when it comes to women's health, breast cancer and so forth. While we have spoken about it and put new strategies in place, they are not delivering in the way they should. I refer to the rape crisis centres and Amber in Kilkenny, the refuge. I know the new refuge in Carlow will be delivered. Is it not a strange thing, with the emphasis being on all of this, that it does not radically change the attitudes of people? It does not seem in any way to put some time on this where we want to have something done before a date. We need to examine how we respond and if that timing is correct.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak as we mark International Women's Day. It would be remiss of me on my daughter Ailbhe's birthday not to mention her. She is abroad at the moment and, unfortunately, I will not get to see her. I would like to send all my love to her and, while I am at it, to my other daughter, Farren, my mother, my sister, Irene, and especially to my wife, Mary. An opportunity like this is good because it gives us a chance to recognise the value and the contribution of women in Irish society today. We saw that in particular with the recent challenges in respect of SNAs. There was a groundswell of opposition to the proposals to cut the SNAs in schools. I saw that initially from the SNAs in Fussa school and from Glenflesk, Portmagee and around the county. The U-turn by the Government on the issue sent out a message of hope that another way of doing things was possible. It sent a message for some other campaigns also that change can and will be achieved. I am thinking in particular about the lack of early intervention classes in the County of Kerry. We know there are two in the whole of the County of Kerry while in our neighbouring County Cork there are 22. There are also many schools looking for an extra autism class or, indeed, even one autism class, such as in the campaign waged by the teachers and parents in Moyvane national school. There is also another issue. I am dealing with a woman who has a cancer diagnosis and has to have 16 or 17 radiotherapy sessions. She has been denied a medical card even on a discretionary basis. She faced the tragic loss of her husband in the past few years and even still the Department has refused her a medical card. On top of all the problems she has in dealing with the diagnosis, she is battling to try to get a medical card. That is something everybody in this House has to take on and try to achieve, not only for women but for people in general. Given the week that is in it, I will finish by acknowledging Jessie Buckley from my own county. She spoke about the great lineage of women in her acceptance speech. I do not know Jessie Buckley but I did know her grand-aunt, Dodie Horgan, or Dodie Comer as she was before she married. Certainly Jessie does come from a great lineage. Her grand-aunt passed away about two months ago. Jessie was an inspiration to women. She sang in a previous album about the shoe box of dreams that she had under her bed. She worked for it; she went for it. Maith thú, Jessie. She had to find her own way, as she said herself, and make her own mistakes. She had to go but she never got too big, never got too heavy, never got too cool.

I thank all my colleagues for their contributions today. I am very pleased to be delivering the closing remarks. It is very important that we mark International Women's Day because it is an opportunity for us to revitalise our shared efforts to achieve full equality between women and men. As a country, we have made real progress in our fight for equality and this has been captured by our improved ranking on the EU gender equality index. The Minister, Deputy Foley, and her Department have taken significant steps to promote gender equality and support the full participation of women and girls in society. The national strategy for women and girls sets out to address the challenges faced by women at all stages of their lives. The perspective of youth was prioritised in the development of the strategy, with a special national youth assembly taking place to ensure that young people's voices were built into Government policy. This demonstrates a real commitment to supporting the next generation. It is vital that we recognise that women can face many forms of disadvantage. To be effective, policy must respond to the full diversity of women's backgrounds and experiences. In the area of family caring, equal sharing of caring responsibilities has been promoted through significant increases in family leaves and promoting equality in the labour market with the Government's efforts to increase pay transparency and narrow the gender pay gap. The combined durations of maternity, paternity and parent's leave and benefit now equate to 46 weeks' paid leave for a two-parent family. Mothers also have an entitlement to 16 weeks of additional maternity leave, which is unpaid. In terms of disability rights, we had the launch of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 last year. Its implementation, alongside the women and girls strategy, can make a real and positive difference in the lives of disabled women. That is a real priority for the Government. Actions have been taken to tackle gender-based violence and the harassment of women through the national strategy, particularly objective 4, entitled "Being Safe". The impact of gender-based violence is a huge issue in our society, and the Government is committed to improving safety for women and girls. It is also extremely important that we recognise and acknowledge the changing threats to the safety, dignity and well-being of women and girls with the rise of cyber violence in our digital world. This is an issue that disproportionately affects young girls and women. As we have heard during today's statements, combating cyber violence against women and girls is part of Ireland's national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence 2022-2026. It is extremely concerning to see the increasing use of AI to generate offensive materials and to abuse or harass people. Worryingly, this online environment consistently gives rise to new, emerging and unforeseen threats. The enactment of Coco's Law in Ireland has ensured that the non-consensual sharing of intimate images is illegal. This legislation includes a broad definition of intimate images to also capture images that have been altered or doctored. To further address cyber violence against girls, we must tackle the harmful and restrictive content that is influencing our younger generations through social media and online spaces. Anti-gender equality movements are now emerging alongside a notable rise in online hate speech. Making digital and media spaces safer requires robust regulation. It also requires collaborative approaches to raise awareness, promote respectful online behaviour and support early intervention. Partnership-based, survivor-centred initiatives are essential to ensuring that prevention is embedded across digital environments and that emerging online harms are addressed effectively. Ireland will continue to explore options to strengthen victim reporting and awareness raising and will use our upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union to advocate for greater online safety and the protection of women and children, in particular, from the misuse of digital tools. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has led efforts and implemented a range of measures to support women in the workforce and to drive forward equality in the labour market. It is widely known that business does better when there is diversity among decision makers. Ireland has fully transposed the EU directive on gender balance on corporate boards to ensure that listed companies achieve a more gender-balanced spread among their board members. We have also made great strides in our efforts to narrow the gender pay gap, which is a critical measure of inequality. Through a range of measures, the gender pay gap in Ireland decreased from 14.4% in 2017 to an estimated 8.6% in 2023. In 2025, gender pay gap reporting was extended to all employers with over 50 staff. While it is mandatory for all those in scope of the reporting to publish their gender pay gap reports on their own website or make them accessible to the public, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality has now developed a centralised reporting database, the gender pay gap portal, for employers to upload their gender pay gap information. While reporting on the portal is currently on a voluntary basis, it will become mandatory for 2026 reporting in November of this year. The publication of this information is intended to incentivise employers to take action to reduce the gender pay gap as much as they can. It is also intended to support Government policy in taking meaningful steps to further women's empowerment. This year, the Department will focus on transposing the pay transparency directive. Under this directive, EU companies will be required to share information about how much they pay women and men for work of equal value and to take corrective action if their gender pay gap exceeds 5%. It also provides for compensation for victims of pay discrimination and penalties, including fines, for non-compliance. This directive is crucial to empower workers, especially women, to enforce their right to equal pay through a set of binding measures on pay transparency. It will strengthen the transparency of pay systems, improve public understanding of the relevant legal concepts and enhance enforcement of the rights and obligations relating to equal pay. The Government is fully committed to full implementation of the pay transparency directive. It is vital work that must be progressed and will directly benefit women and girls and advance gender equality, both in the workplace and in wider society. As the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, described, she travelled to New York last week to update the 70th Commission on the Status of Women on the important progress we have made, while acknowledging that there is more work to be done to achieve a fully gender-equal society. In terms of my remit as Minister of State with special responsibility for public health and well-being, I was delighted to spend International Women's Day in Tullamore at the official launch of Women's Sheds of Ireland. It was wonderful to be there with so many strong and enthusiastic women dedicated to creating healthy environments in everyday life through community participation and empowerment. Spaces such as women's sheds can only help women. Women's sheds are great for women, even if they go just to socialise, and can help them to live healthier lives within their communities by encouraging participation, providing support and acting as a defence against loneliness and isolation. There are over 380 women's sheds around Ireland, and the work they do is valuable and crucial. They are a social outlet. All the women get to mix one or two evenings or maybe two mornings a week. They all do their own thing on different days. It is exceptional, and the goodwill that was there on International Women's Day for that launch was excellent. Together with my colleague, the Minister, Dara Calleary, in the Department of rural and community development, we want to ensure that women's sheds are supported in their excellent work. I appreciate the importance of investing in health and well-being measures that target inequality and the extra burden that women can carry, including free period products and initiatives under the national sexual health strategy such as free contraception. That is to name only a few measures within my remit. A lot of TDs spoke about different issues. It is important that all of us work together. Women's refuges came up very strongly in the debate. We have a great women's refuge in Kilkenny, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, namely, Amber Women's Refuge. Carlow's refuge is moving fast now. We hope to get the plans in soon to the local authority. Refuges are important. It is important that all of us work together with the women in our workplaces, wherever they work. It is important that all of us promote, work with and encourage our women. Women have so much to offer. As a woman standing here and as the Minister of State to conclude these statements, I can say I am a proud Irish woman, delighted to be here in the Chamber, encouraging women to go into politics. It is so important. We have so much to offer and we get a lot of satisfaction from the work we do. I hope everyone had a lovely, happy International Women's Day.