I raise the issue of our secretarial staff, on the back of a very powerful meeting that many of us attended at 10.30 this morning. Their starting rate of pay is €11.75 per hour. A living wage is €12.90. They have no job security. I have lost two excellent colleagues because they could not afford to keep working in the job. My current secretarial assistant, a fantastic guy, had to move back in with his parents because he cannot afford to rent.

We all know that the title of "secretarial assistant" is a complete misnomer. These people do the same jobs as parliamentary assistants but are paid dramatically less. Parliamentary assistants start on a salary of €41,000. I want to approach this on a cross-party basis because all parties had representatives on that call this morning. There is huge frustration that nothing has been done. Two years ago, we had an excellent debate in this Chamber and we all supported the motion demanding that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform meet with the representatives of these workers and engage with them properly. I mean this respectfully and not to be confrontational, but that meeting never took place and still has not taken place. The union has surveyed these workers and presented all the evidence. From what I can see, the HR department is in agreement with the union. The blockage is with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, so much so that a union representative told us that it did not even send decision-makers to the most recent talks. What is being offered to them is 3% over a year. That is a pay cut. We have inflation of 5%. All of us know that these people are not paid properly The current set-up means those workers will probably leave because there is no future for them working as secretarial assistants.

Hear, hear.

The union has made a series of constructive suggestions not just relating to an increase in pay and regrading the position of secretarial assistant, which must happen, but also on issues such as the conversion of overtime pay to an allowance and compressing the scale. One thing I did not know until this week is that the scale takes 18 years. It is completely out of whack with other scales. We have a collective responsibility to deliver for these secretarial assistants. Let us be clear: we have the power, as parliamentary representatives, to do that. All that is lacking is the political will. I mean it respectfully when I ask the acting Leader to give us a commitment that he will get the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to meet these people and that he will get that Minister to ensure the right people from the Department go to the next set of talks, engage meaningfully and deliver.

We cannot let the term of this Parliament end without the issue of our secretarial assistants finally being resolved.

I also attended that very powerful meeting this morning. The mark of an employer is how well they pay and treat their workers. It is a stain on all of us here in this House, as employers, that our secretarial assistants are paid at the current rate. We cannot control their pay, but there are things that we can do to make sure it changes.

Senator Gavan eloquently set out all the arguments. When I look at the figures, I see that a secretarial assistant is paid 41% less than a parliamentary assistant to a Deputy. Anybody in this House who is a former Deputy might tell us whether there is proportionately 41% less work involved in being a Senator than in being a Deputy.

Well said.

It is very clear that there is not. In 2018, SIPTU lodged the pay claim. In 2019, we had the motion in this House. It is now 2021 and there has still been no progress. We must figure this out right across the House. As Senator Gavan said, we cannot allow this Seanad's term to conclude and have secretarial assistants still being treated so shamefully by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. We had domestic violence, rape and other forms of violence against women in this country long before the State was ever set up, but, in particular, we have had them during the pandemic. We saw a frightening escalation in the number of reports to the Garda last year. Women's Aid alone received 30,000 calls in 2020. How many women are present in the Chamber today? Data from Women's Aid show that one in four women in this country has been she has been abused by a current or former partner. That is frightening. Not only is there a personal cost to the women and their families, there is also a societal cost, an economic cost in terms of their jobs and a cost in terms of access to housing among other issues.

Ireland signed up to the Istanbul Convention, which was ratified in 2019, but we have a long way to go to meet the commitments under it. One of those commitments relates to the number of refuges in this country. There are nine counties with no refuge. Senator Ward has spoken about the lack of a refuge in Dún Laoghaire. Huge credit is due to the refuges in Stepaside and Coolock, which I have had dealings with over the years. If the Government is to do anything, it must put in place a greater number of refuges so that women are not left short when they are in desperate need of urgent care.

I echo the sentiments expressed by the previous speaker on secretarial assistants. In the previous Seanad we all signed a cross-party motion to bring change in this area, but the change has not come. We only have to look at the Bill I introduced which was discussed during Private Members' business yesterday, and which was drafted by my secretarial assistant. That is the level of skill, input, knowledge and experience that goes into our offices. Secretarial assistants do a lot, but on a secretarial assistant's wage. We must bring a similar motion back to the House and agree again on the contents of the motion in light of the make-up of the new Seanad. It is a disgrace that we have not done anything. We talk about equal pay for equal work in these Houses, but we do not implement it within our own institution. That does not make sense.

Well said.

If we cannot introduce quality pay based on experience and expertise, then how can we promote our ideals in a wider sense in terms of society and democracy? We must fix what is happening in-house.

Regarding gender-based violence, I met with a woman last night from the Tallaght community. I knew of her many years ago, but I had not heard much about her for years. She has experienced a huge amount of trauma throughout her lifetime, but I will not go into that on the floor of the House. In the past eight weeks she was inspired by her own experiences and by the lack of community that exists in many spaces now. She looked at how she could bring women back together in spaces in working class communities. She set up what are called Sister Sheds, where women from different walks of life, mainly those from Tallaght, Ballyfermot and Finglas, can meet. Women are popping up everywhere. In the space of eight weeks, 1,000 women are engaging with this one woman to try to help her create a safe space in their communities where women can get together and talk.

The reason I mention this is because it is very difficult for grassroots initiatives that grow organically like that to get support. We are told that it is necessary to have a company limited by guarantee and that charitable status is required to apply for a small bit of funding to pay for a room. I have committed to covering the cost of one of the Sister Sheds groups. If any Dublin representatives in this House or in the Lower House want to support such a group, they could also take on paying the costs of one of those rooms in their constituency where the women can meet once a week and support each other. Refuge is one answer, but there is a prevention piece that can happen when women come together to support each other. It would be great if we could support such initiatives.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Well said.

I agree with the many speakers who spoke up for our secretaries. In response to what Senator Sherlock said, I was a Deputy and two people worked with me. My secretary is doing the work of two people. Incredibly, on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays she is doing work that I would not ask anybody to do. These people are so committed and dedicated. I hope we can solve this issue as quickly as possible.

I support all of the people who have spoken here this morning about violence against women. We must all work very hard to ensure that we stamp it out. In that regard, I welcome the funding announced to date by the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, to help a number of groups with the issue. The Government is going to address this issue as soon as possible, and I hope it will do all the right things.

I will finish with a plea for the pony racing industry, which you know well in your part of the country, a Chathaoirligh, in the south - in Kerry and in Cork. There are races in Dingle. Senator Paddy Burke knows about the races in Galway and there are also races in my county of Roscommon and in parts of Meath. Pony racing is such a part of the community all over the country. Pony racing has produced the finest jockeys who have become worldwide names. The sector is struggling and it gets no funding. Despite Horse Racing Ireland getting a budget of almost €80 million, it claims it can give no funding to pony racing.

I also wish to deal with another aspect of the matter. Many a young lad and lassie in the community can go a little bit wild, if I can use that term with respect. Many of them have been brought on board by people in the horse racing industry and they have turned out to be incredible leaders. There is no doubt about it. Apart from the joy of it, the fact is that this has been such a brilliant process for helping people who might be getting into a little bit of bother to get back on track. I appeal that a small amount of funding, less than €100,000 per annum, could be given to that business in order to ensure that it survives. If it does not survive, we will pay a huge cost.

I echo the comments of a number of colleagues on pay for our secretarial assistants. Michelle who works for me - she worked for me even prior to my being elected here - does the work of a parliamentary assistant. I second Senator Ruane's proposal that we look at bringing forward a cross-party motion and that we push it and make sure it happens, long before our term finishes.

Given the week that is in it, I ask eager shoppers to please shop local on Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas.

Green Friday Ireland is a movement to highlight the value of small businesses in local communities. Traditionally, Black Friday is a global day of mass consumerism, with large multinationals benefiting the most. Once again this year I am asking people to think before they click. People believe in supporting their communities. If you shop local, you are supporting local businesses. Google searches for "Black Friday in Ireland" have soared 138% on last year. As well as researching what to buy Irish shoppers are keen to shop local, with searches for “near me” increasing by 50%. When you go into a local shop, you are supporting the local producers, employment in the shop and the businesses and the services that they, in turn, spend their wages on. It is estimated that every €1 spent in Irish retail generates up to €250 in the economy. Anyone involved in a community group - whether it is in the GAA, a parents association, or a soccer club - knows that every year their local businesses support these groups with spot prizes, etc. This is something to remember. Amazon will not support your local football team when you are looking for a spot prize.

Hear, hear.

Shop local and make sure we have a green Friday and a green Monday, not a Cyber Monday.

Well said.

If people are shopping local, they might also shop Irish, while they are at it. I call on Senator Craughwell.

I might be so bold as to suggest that at some stage we would refuse to process legislation while our secretarial assistants are being treated the way they are being treated. This came before the commission three years ago, when I was sitting on it and nothing has been done. It is really outrageous. In any other organisation the secretarial assistants would be supported. We should consider whether or not we would be unwilling to process legislation until there is some action. I spoke yesterday about the overarching power of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. We need to re-examine whether we do need a Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It was needed at the time it was brought in, but I am not so sure that it is needed now.

I read today and yesterday in the newspapers of Ireland’s inability to protect the undersea cables coming into this country. The reason is that An Garda Síochána are responsible for this but they do not go to sea. The Naval Service could go to sea, if it had enough people. The Naval Service is currently operating at 65% capacity. I am going to suggest something today that people outside would scream to the high heavens about. It is time we had a referendum in this country to increase our number of senior Ministers. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Simon Coveney, is a wonderful Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is held in high esteem across the world. Asking him to be Minister for Defence at the same time simply does not work. Having the same person hold the role of Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications and the role of Minister for Transport does not work. There are too many different issues calling on their time. The bottom line, from a defence point of view, is that this country is being left defenceless. Soon, one of the fastest cables in the world is going to land in the Acting Leader’s constituency in Galway. It will come down from Iceland. We cannot protect that. We do not have the legislation to protect it or the personnel to protect it. I think that there is nobody in charge of defence and security in this country. We have to do something about that urgently.