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.

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