Article 41.2 of the Constitution, which deals with women in the home, should be amended to make it gender- neutral, not deleted, the Iona Institute has said.

In a statement, they said that the article, which is set to be discussed at the weekend by the Constitutional Convention, “says something very important, which is that the domestic or private sphere must be protected from the demands of the marketplace and work”.

Speaking ahead of the Convention, Maria Steen of The Iona Institute said: “It says that mothers should not be forced into the workplace out of economic necessity. This reference to mothers should be made gender-neutral. Once that is done, Article 41.2 is entirely defensible. Very few people will agree that it would be a desirable state of affairs if both parents were forced by economic necessity to work and were unable to strike the work/home balance they desire.”

She continued: “Obviously economic circumstances will often mean that both parents have to work full-time outside the home, regardless of their wishes, but this should not be made worse by Government policy, of which tax individualisation is an example.”

Ms Steen concluded: “By amending rather than deleting Article 41.2 we will be saying that private sphere, the home, is still worth protecting. That remains a very worthy goal, fully in keeping with the aspirations of most families today.”

In their submission to the Convention, the Iona Institute said that contrary to popular perception, Article 41.2 did not say that a woman’s role must be in the home.

The submission says that the article “says that women (and mothers specifically) should not be forced out of the home due toeconomic necessity”.

“In addition, the provision did not arise solely from the influence of the Catholic Church. In fact, the thinking behind the provision had very wide support in the trade union movement at the time both in Ireland and overseas.

“What the provision does is to set out our respect for the private sphere. It says that the marketplace cannot be all-dominant, that other spheres of life are also important, and sometimes more important.

“We must be careful not to replace a notion that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ with the reverse of this, which is to say ‘a woman’s place is at work’. We must instead empower parents and other carers to decide a work/life balance that works best for them and their dependents.

“The provision should, however, be reworded in order to make it gender-neutral so that instead of referring to women in the home, it refers to carers. A reference to carers also has the advantage of ensuring that it is not only parents’ role in the home that is respected, but also those who care for other dependents.”