News
Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality
On the 14th December, the Joint Committee published its final report on Gender Equality after considering the weighted recommendations by the Citizen’s Assembly. The Committee agreed these recommendations should form the foundations for achieving true gender equality in Ireland.
In 2005, the Economic and Social Institute (ERSI) reported that one-third of the population participated in caring activities. This was further broken down by gender; 48% women and 23% men (McGinnity and Russell, 2008).
Although there have been efforts to reduce the gender pay gap, men currently earn approximately one-sixth more than women in Ireland. Inequalities in retirement still remain as women over 65 receive a pension that averages 29% lower than that of men (Eurostat, 2019).
According to Orla O’Connor of the National Women’s Council (NWC):
“This cultural assumption that women are society’s natural carers, coupled with the gender pay gap, also means women predominately fill the gap left by the State’s chronic underfunding of care. We see a Constitutional reform as a way of reframing the value our society puts on care.
Valuing care includes supporting women and men to combine unpaid care with paid employment through better, paid family leave and accessible, affordable, quality childcare.”
Some of the key recommendations include:
- Hold a constitutional referendum in 2023 to insert gender-neutral language, remove text exclusive to women having a ‘life’ and ‘duties’ within the home and ensuring a more inclusive definition of ‘family’
- Commission a ‘cost of care’ review that calculates the financial cost of unpaid care
- Develop and establish a National Planning Unit for Care, to foster better linkages and co-ordination on care policies across all relevant Government Departments
How we understand the nature of care work and the value of care, is pivotal to our society and to women’s equality. If this can be reflected in our constitution, this may also be a positive step towards addressing the increasing care needs of our population throughout our life cycle.
To read the report in full, you can access it HERE.
Overcrowding in hospitals continues to Soar!
After RTE News released shocking footage of the current reality of severe overcrowding in Irish hospitals, Sue Shaw spoke with Treasa Murphy on Kerry Radio this morning.
The unsettling footage showed the corridors of University Hospital Limerick, lined with trolleys filled with patients waiting for a bed. Hallways are wall to wall with trollies that are so closely packed together that staff are finding it difficult to move around between patients. St. Vincent’s Hospital Dublin displayed a similar scene with some patients waiting in chairs, side by side with little to no evidence of patients wearing face masks.
Sue noted that overcrowding in hospitals has become more prevalent and continues to increase each year. As the issue has been evident for quite some time, the Government have been reluctant to invest in step-down facilities and community healthcare. The Irish health system needs to be restructured to facilitate the growing population, in particular the growing number of older persons. With the majority of people waiting on trollies being of an older age, they are at an increased risk of infection while also not receiving adequate care and treatment.
Sue continued to describe how the pandemic highlighted the major disparity in treatment towards older people. She also mentioned a 2017 report published in the Irish Medical Journal 2017. This highlighted the findings of a 10-year study in Beaumont Hospital which showed the unequal treatment of older people, particularly those over 80 years. It highlighted that people over 80 wait twice as long for admission as those in their 20’s. Hospital Wards ‘cherry pick’ the younger patients as they have a shorter stay, leaving older people longer in A&E with all the inherent risks associated with this.
(Image Source Irish Examiner)
We are in no doubt that this is a strain on an everyday basis for hospital staff leading to stress and burnout of people who have given their all during Covid 19 and continue to do so on a daily basis.
It is not good enough for patients or for staff and particularly for those who for a variety of reasons, age being only one of them are vulnerable and need a much better health care system.
The reality is that this is a crisis. We need to invest in developing more accessible community care, increasing the number of healthcare professionals and step-down facilities so people can recuperate outside of hospital. This would provide more opportunity to free up beds for people in a more critical state.
You can listen to full the interview on Kerry Radio HERE.
Happy Christmas from all at the Parliament!
The Board, Executive and staff extend their thanks for your ongoing support throughout 2022, we are only as good as our members, they are the strength of the ISCP.
Can we wish you a very happy Christmas and a joyful New Year.
We will see you all on our return on Wednesday 4th January.
Vicky Phelan – Action. Change. Accountability.
In 2008, the national cervical screening programme Cervical Check was established as a means to reduce the incidences of cervical cancer among women aged 25-60.
In 2017, Vicky Phelan is sitting in her consultant’s waiting room skimming over her medical record out of plain boredom. It is here she makes the cataclysmic discovery that sets in motion, a chain of events that will change the world for women across Ireland and abroad. Here lie the undisclosed audit results of an internal inquiry into the cervical programme and evidence of her inaccurate smear result from 2011. She had now been given a terminal diagnosis, realising that this might have been prevented if the original test had been read accurately.
She was unable to remain idle with the knowledge of this injustice and secrecy which has led to the preventable deaths of so many women. In 2018, Vicky battled the HSE and Quest Laboratories in the High Court. The case was settled but Vicky refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement ensuring that this information becomes available to the public. Her courageous decision not to stay silent unleashed a rollercoaster of events bringing national attention to the grave errors committed by the HSE and the Cervical Check programme.
At our Annual Parliament Meeting in November, we paid tribute to Vicky by substituting a minute’s silence for an emotional minute’s applause as a tribute to Vicky’s refusing to stay silent for herself and the women of Ireland.
She will be sadly missed by all but in particular her loving family. Our thoughts are with Vicky’s family, friends and all of the women she has and will continue to help.