International Women's Day: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-04 ============================================================ Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (FF), Labour Panel Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I would like to start by wishing everybody a happy International Women's Day, both men and women, because working together we make the world go around. I wish everybody a happy International Women's Day. This week, ahead of International Women's Day, we come together to celebrate the strength, resilience and extraordinary leadership of women and girls across Ireland and around the world. It is a moment to honour the achievements of women past and present, acknowledge the progress made and reflect on the work that still lies ahead. This year carries a special meaning for us in Fianna Fáil because 2026 marks the centenary of our party's founding, a moment that brings us right back to the footsteps of a woman whose courage still lights our path. That woman is Countess Markievicz. A century ago, in 1926, Countess Markievicz chaired the very first Fianna Fáil meeting at La Scala Theatre on O'Connell Street. She was already a giant of equality. She was the first female Member of the Dáil, the first woman elected to Westminster and Europe's first female Cabinet Minister, as Minister for Labour in 1919. She broke the glass ceiling before it was even a term. She fought battles no one had asked her to fight, and she imagined an Ireland that values fairness, dignity and opportunity for all. As we mark 100 years of my party, Fianna Fáil, our mission is to continue building the Ireland she envisaged; an Ireland of which she would be proud. Fianna Fáil is committed to ensuring women have a meaningful voice at every level of public life. In recent years, we have made real progress. We ran 34 female candidates in the 2024 general election, which is more than any other party has ever run. However, progress cannot make us complacent. Alongside this, Councillor Rachel Hartigan from County Clare, who was elected at the age of 22 in the latest local elections, is the youngest female councillor in the country. We, as a party, are very proud of her, and I would like to pay tribute to her today. Women still face disproportionate barriers, from online abuse to unequal representation in corporate and political life. The task force on safe participation in political life has warned that abuse is prevalent, targeted and deeply damaging, particularly for women and minority groups. This cannot be accepted as part of the job. It is a threat to democracy itself. We stand firmly behind the recommendations to strengthen security, monitor online abuse, protect the privacy of candidates and ensure that every party has clear codes of conduct and support for members who encounter harassment. Women should never have to choose between safety and public service. Equality is not simply a principle. It must be visible in every payslip. Ireland's gender pay gap in 2024 was 8.3%, which is lower than the EU average but still unacceptable. Women continue to be over-represented in lower-paid sectors, carry more unpaid work and face barriers to senior roles. Transparency, investment and accountability are essential. That is why all Government Departments, State bodies and now private sector employers with over 50 staff must publish gender pay gap reports. These reports shine a light on inequalities that were once invisible, and make it possible to fix them. We know the disparities are often driven by who gets to lead. Women make up more than half of the workforce in most Departments yet remain far too absent from the top tier. That gap must close, not in another generation but now. One of the greatest steps forward in recent years has been in women's health. Government has invested more than €180 million since 2020 to radically reform services. We have opened postnatal hubs, expanded menopause clinics, rolled out free contraception for women between 17 and 35 and are working towards eliminating cervical cancer by 2040. Perhaps the most important change, however, has come with the national endometriosis framework, built on the principle of presumed diagnosis. For the first time, Ireland recognises what women have always known, that women are the most reliable narrators of their own symptoms and pain. Today, specialist centres in Tallaght, Cork, Limerick, the Rotunda and the Coombe, and soon Galway and the National Maternity Hospital, are giving women the care for which they have waited for far too long to receive. When women are listened to, believed and supported, their health outcomes transform, and so does their quality of life. We must recognise the challenges faced by women whose experiences of addiction are intertwined with trauma, poverty, domestic violence and homelessness. Women are often the hidden homeless, and traditional treatment centres do not always meet their needs, especially when children are involved. Services such as those provided by Ashleigh House and the new trauma-informed centre at Merchant's Quay in Dublin show what is possible when we design supports for women with dignity, stability, childcare and wraparound care at their centre. We are increasing investment in drug treatment services, with an additional €2 million in 2025 and €11 million announced in budget 2026, ensuring women receive treatment that understands their lived realities. A gender-neutral approach simply does not work. Women deserve better and we are building better. We know that, despite progress, some men still hold beliefs that are rooted in control, beliefs that manifest as coercion, intimidation and violence. These views have no place in Ireland, and Fianna Fáil will never shy away from confronting them. Under the zero tolerance strategy, funding for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, services has reached almost €80 million. We are delivering new refuge spaces, expanding safe accommodation and strengthening our laws, including through removing guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners, establishing a domestic violence register under Jennie's Law, restricting the disclosure of counselling records in trials and ensuring schools are informed when a child has been exposed to domestic violence. Safety is not a privilege; it is a right. In sport, we are closing the gender participation gap like never before. Women's participation now stands at 47% and the difference between men and women is less than three percentage points. Parity in funding for Gaelic players has also been achieved and we are supporting coaching, leadership and visibility so young girls can see themselves in every arena. If you can see it, you can be it. In agriculture, 2026 marks the international year of the woman farmer. Ireland is leading the way, being one of only two EU states to explicitly support women farmers through the CAP, with initiatives from the women farmer capital investment scheme to accelerating the creation of rural nascent start-ups, ACORNS, programme. Women have always been central to rural Ireland. Today they are central to its future. As we mark our centenary, Fianna Fáil renews its commitment to empowering women and girls in every community, profession and generation. We will publish an updated national strategy for women and girls, advance gender budgeting, strengthen leadership pathways and support women in finance, STEM, business, the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána. We will build an Ireland that protects, includes and uplifts, an Ireland where equality is not something we aim for but something we live. International Women's Day is not only a celebration; it is also a reminder – a reminder of how far we have come and how far we have to go. One hundred years after Constance Markievicz led our first meeting, her voice still echoes. The fight for freedom is the fight for equality. Today, we honour her legacy not only with words but also with action. Let us continue the work and progress and let us continue building an Ireland where every woman and girl can thrive, not despite the system but because of it. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-04/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-04