THE OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE on Gender Equality has proposed that a referendum be held next year to delete the clause in the Constitution concerning women in the home.

It’s one of a number of constitutional amendments recommended by the committee, which published an interim report on its work today.

The committee, chaired by Labour leader Ivana Bacik, has proposed sweeping changes to Article 41 of the Constitution, which includes the controversial clause: “The state recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”

Article 41 also concerns the role of the family and the right to marriage and divorce.

Speaking at the launch of the report today, Bacik said this clause was based on “outdated gender stereotypes” which have “no place in a modern constitutional text”.

The committee proposed multiple wordings for each of the three amendments which it suggested be put to a referendum.

This was a “deliberate” decision, Bacik said, to reflect the complexity of the legal text.

Article 40.1

Article 40.1 currently states that “all citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law.”

It is proposed that this be deleted and replaced with an explicit reference to equal treatment “without distinction of sex or gender.”

The other suggested wording for this amendment is broader, referring to discrimination on the grounds of gender, race or beliefs, among others.

Article 41

The committee has proposed significant changes to Article 41, including the deletion of the contentious reference to a woman’s place in the home and the State’s endeavour to ensure that mothers are not obliged to work outside the home.

One of the proposed wordings to replace this clause is: “The state recognised that care provided by the home, family and community gives society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”

Bacik said the committee had sought to amend the definition of a family in the Constitution that was not limited to the marital family.

“The reality is also that the definition of family has long been criticised for being insufficiently inclusive of diverse family forms in contemporary Ireland and that too must change,” she said.

Final report

The committee will now continue engaging with stakeholders with a view to publishing a final report in December.

Bacik said she was confident the government would support the proposal to hold a referendum.

The committee was created last year and was tasked with investigating how best to implement the 45 recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality.