Albert Dolan: Calls for Pay Transparency on Women's Day

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