The new Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality met for the first time in Dublin Castle last Saturday afternoon.

A report on gender equality worldwide from the World Economic Forum shows we are already the seventh most gender equal country globally, ahead of countries like Denmark, France, the UK and Germany.

The head of the Assembly, Dr Catherine Day told delegates that the Oireachtas had asked that the Assembly “advance gender equality by making proposals on a range of issues and to prioritise those issues which may include policy, legislative or constitutional change”.

She said the Assembly is tasked with doing this “while having regard to the legal requirements and the costs versus the potential impact of these proposals”.

Issues for consideration, as set out by the TDs and Senators, ranged from “challenging the barriers and social ways of behaving that facilitate gender discrimination, to reassessing the economic value placed on work traditionally done by women”.

They included “looking at where the responsibility for care lies, especially within the family, assessing early years parental care and facilitating greater work/life balance, and scrutinising the structural pay inequalities that result in women being disproportionately represented in low pay sectors.

She said the Assembly will not be about only women’s issues but will also involve men and the LGBT+ community.