JILL NESBITT,
Madam, - So Mr Frank Fahey would have the 531,000 women still working in the home despite tax individualisation back in the workforce so as to displace foreign workers, would he? He apparently found it "quite remarkable" that so many women do not appear to be interested in availing of job opportunities (November 20th).
Has it ever occurred to this Government that many parents want to work in the home, despite tax individualisation and whatever other measures are employed to pressurise them? This pressure is not just on parents in the home but on all parents, and particularly on those who have no choice at all but to work because of the lack of government control on property prices and tax breaks for private property investors which push up prices further.
Perhaps Mr Fahey hasn't noticed that there are many families who would like to have one parent working, even part-time, in the home. What's surprising is that no woman has yet taken a test case on Article 41.2.2 to challenge the State to give practical effect to the guarantee to mothers that they will not have to work through economic necessity.
Has tax individualisation been Constitutionally tested, for example? No less an authority than the late Mr Justice Brian Walsh of the Supreme Court and latterly of the European Court of Human Rights expressed his surprise that Article 41.2.2 has not been challenged. Far from being merely aspirational Mr Justice Walsh described Article 41.2.2 as a "specific obligation put in mandatory terms." A suitable candidate he believed stood a "good chance" of success.
Trying to maintain what "social capital" this country still has underlies the choice of many of those lucky enough to be still able to afford the option of having one parent working in the home. What value does this Government place on the needs of Irish children and their parents to spend time with each other rather than endlessly serve the needs of the economy and employers? What value does this Government place on the armies of volunteers providing services to the elderly, disabled and the ill in our society?
This country has been very happy for years to let its people seek work in other countries. I'm happy to let a non-EU national have my place in the workforce, Mr Fahey. I just hope you'll ease up on the pressure exerted on all parents to work in paid employment and permit us to make our own choices as to how we look after our children, the elderly and the social fabric of this society. Would that this Government might instead turn its attention to developing a vision of the sort of society we would like for our children and grandchildren. - Yours, etc.,
JILL NESBITT, Ardmore Park, Bray, Co Wicklow.