AN OIREACHTAS JOINT Committee on Gender Equality has published a report today on methods of “achieving a gender equal Ireland,” which included recommendations on how articles of the Constitution could be rewritten.

Chaired by Ivana Bacik TD, the committee held hearings to consider suggestions from the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality before producing the ‘Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality‘ report.

One suggestion was that the state hold a referendum in 2023 to allow for changes to Article 41.3.1, Article 40.1 and the reference of a woman’s “life within the home” included in Article 41.2.1 of the Constitution.

The Article in full reads:

“In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”

The committee seeks to replace this with: “The State recognises that care within and outside the home and Family gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”

The committee also sought to change Article 41.3.1 in which the State pledges to “guard the institution of marriage upon which family is founded,” to “guarding Family including but not limited to the marital family.”

The committee recommended that Article 40.1 which declares all citizens equal to the law, be amended to include the phrase “without distinction as to sex.” 

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland, Ivana Bacik said that the committee’s work was to implement a “blueprint for gender equality.”

“They wanted to delete the currently very gendered language of our constitution that refers specifically to women and mothers as having duties in the home and that language has been widely criticized, nationally and internationally.”

“We have unanimously called on government to to ensure that the referendum is held in 2023. With a very strong engagement I must say,  from both Taoiseach and Tánaiste and indeed from a range of ministers across government. I think there is a commitment to holding a referendum as soon as possible,” she said.

The report also suggests the establishment of a statutory Child Maintenance Agency that would keep disputes relating to child maintenance payments out of the courts where possible.

It also recommended that action on the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence begins immediately, pending the establishment of the new Statutory National Agency.

Requiring the Electoral Commission to review a national gender quota strategy in politics every five years and improving data systems within the criminal justice system to provide visibility on sentencing levels in sexual and domestic violence cases were also highlighted.

Launching the report, Bacik stated:

“We look forward to the implementation of our recommendations, and to the achievement of a truly gender equal society. As the Assembly has stated, ‘gender equality is a matter of human rights, justice, and fairness. It must underpin all of our interactions as a society.”

“Until gender equality is achieved, our democracy will remain unfinished.”