DISAPPOINTED equality rights workers left Leinster House yesterday following the collapse of a meeting they were to have addressed. The session of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Women's Rights could not proceed because no senator member turned up.
Six of the 17 committee members are from the upper house. Under its procedures, the presence of a senator is vital.
Apologies had been received from three of the six absentee senators - Ms Anne Gallagher (Lab), Ms Anne Ormonde (FF) and Dr Mary Henry (Ind). Ms Marian McGennis (FF) was said to be at a conference in Istanbul. The two missing senators were Mr Billy Kelliher (FE) and Mr Dan Neville (FG).
Ten deputies, including substitutes, were present.
The committee chairwoman Ms Mary Wallace TD (FE), said seven were from her party and three from Fine Gael. Ms Wallace said she was very annoyed that the meeting had not taken place, as they had critical issues to discuss.
She did not think a lack of interest by members had been the problem. The difficulty was partly due to the Government's insistence that the committee meeting take place on a Friday, when many parliamentarians would have returned to the provinces.
The Progressive Democrats Democratic Left and Labour also have members on the committee which convened for 30 minutes in the Dail chamber yesterday before Ms Wallace called a halt.
The Employment Equality Agency chairwoman, Ms Kate Hayes, said later she was very disappointed. A lot of work had been put into her organisation's presentation on measures designed to help working parents and those caring for elderly relatives or disabled family members, to better combine their work and personal responsibilities.
The EEA chief executive, Ms Carmel Foley, the body's legal adviser, Ms Mary Honan, and its information officer, Ms Kathleen Connolly, were in the EEA group hoping to be heard by the parliamentarians.
Ms Wallace noted afterwards that two new Bills were being brought forward by the Government to extend the agency's rem it by giving it responsibility for new groups including people with disabilities, travellers and the aged. The body would also be required to deal with forms of discrimination outside those relating to employment.
The committee was anxious to ensure that the agency would have adequate funding and staffing to carry out these roles, and it had been hoped to tease out these matters yesterday.
In a statement prepared for the meeting, Ms Hayes said that as we moved to more two income families and adjusted to new family forms, we needed to ask if the traditional work regime still fitted.