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TWO OPPOSITION PARTIES have suggested that Ireland start a programme to improve access to sanitary products and increase awareness of menstrual hygiene among girls.
Earlier this month, the Scottish government announced that it would provide free sanitary towels to girls in schools and colleges to tackle “period poverty” – making it the first country in the world to do so.
The programme, which will cost £5.2 million to cater for 395,000 pupils and students was implemented partly because of the UK’s high levels of VAT on sanitary products. There’s a VAT of 5% in the UK, the minimum allowed under EU rules, while in Ireland that rate is 0% (Ireland introduced their rate before EU legislation came into force).
According to the Guardian, a recent survey of more than 2,000 people by Young Scot found that a quarter of Scottish students at school, college or university struggled to access sanitary products.
In Ireland, 50% of girls aged 12-19 responded to say they have experienced issues in paying for sanitary products, according to Plan International.
That same research found that 45% of girls in Scotland have used toilet paper, socks and newspaper during their periods because they could not afford to buy sanitary products.
Local representatives in Scotland said that the programme would contribute towards removing the stigma around periods.
Labour Party equality spokesperson, councillor Deirdre Kingston said that in Ireland, “we know anecdotally that some schools and teachers provide sanitary products to students [on] an ad-hoc basis with no real structure”.
“The government should seek to follow Scotland’s lead and provide free sanitary products to all schools and colleges.”
The Scottish scheme totals in cost to just over €5 million, when you consider that the Government planned to spend €5 million per year on the Strategic Communications Unit, this would be a much more worthy spend for 2019.
Fianna Fáil spokesperson on children and youth affairs, Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee also agreed that the idea of a programme should be explored.
“It’s not unheard of that young women may have no choice but to go without sanitary products to make ends meet. Indeed, some households’ weekly budget cannot stretch far enough to afford the cost of these products; they are luxuries not certainties for too many.
Given the price of rent, the cost of student fees and general living expenses, college students too are running an exceptionally tight budget. It goes without saying that sadly women living in homelessness have severely limited access to these products.
She said she would raise the issue within her parliamentary party and in the Oireachtas when it returns in the coming weeks.
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I wonder if someone did take him out 30 years ago, would Zimbabwe be the basket case he turned it into, or would some other “leader”, equally malingnant have just taken his place.
It’s tempting to write Africa off, but these things are not inevitable. The neighbours in Botswana were a landlocked, diamond rich former colony. Not an obvious candidate for success. And yet they were, partly because of Seretse Khama’s leadership, but also because people kept voting for him.
Unfortunately, for every relative success story there are 50 failed states. Nation building is hard and requires guts, enterprise, selflessness and vision. Mugabe wasn’t even asked to nation build. He was handed a fully functioning, very rich and successful country and managed to level it in less than a generation. That takes mean spiritness, stupidity, and the most crass selfishness and myopic vision, which, unfortunately, seems to be the calibre of most African leaders. Take and destroy is what they do and in the meantime, the west continues to do what the west does best. Assuage our feelings of western guilt by feeding, clothing and vaccinating the Africans left behind by their very own “leaders”.
We can write much of Africa off if the Chinese economy falters, And also, we can take Australia with it.
Problem with africa is its full of africans
“Unfortunate event”
In who’s eyes ????
Funny that at Mandela’s memorial when the camera would go to different world leaders the crowd would cheer or boo depending on who it was on. Mugabe got a massive cheer and Bush Jnr got a massive boo. Ya no your screwed when Mugabe gets a bigger cheer than ya!
It was an ANC crowd at the funeral & Mugabe was a big supporter if the ANC during apartheid times so I’d be sure that’s why he was cheered rather than for his recent policies.
That says a lot more about the crowd than it does about Bush Jr.
Whatever you can accuse Bush Jr. of, laying waste to his country, starving his people, killing the productive farmers and having an ugly greedy, mean wife isnt among them. An ANC crowd can turn into a vicious mob at the turn of a hair. Being rational abd discerning is not their thing.
Hurricane Katrina anyone? ;)
Sadly, probably the latter.
Problem with Africa is the tribal government system, and the mentality of it’s people.
@coom
Same could be said for a lot of countries..including ours!
Christina who wrote that paper? Dept of the Taoiseach?
While it is true that Robert Mugabe has a few character flaws, it cannot be denied that he is an active leader who stands up for his people. Much better than the shower we have running this country, he is. You can bet Robert Mugabe would have burned the bondholders and sent the IMF home with a flea in their ear.
Pity he didn’t have a fatal “accident” here.
Proably after totruring them first…Thing is we can elect another incompetant shower to govern us.Mugabe is there forever like a big black blood sucking tick on Zimbabwae.But then thats what happens if you let Marxist gun waving loons loose on a perfectly functioning and producing ,albeit not without is fault state.Turn it into a dictatorship that makes the previous oppression by whomever look like paradise.
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