Before I bring in the Minister of State, I welcome to the Visitors Gallery the members of Soroptimist International who are on a tour of Leinster House. I thank them for coming to Seanad Éireann today. Their great work in empowering women and engendering trust and togetherness among women and girls is greatly appreciated, not only here in Ireland but across the world. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, and his wife, Siobhán, for facilitating their visit. I thank our guests for coming. As they will have seen, there is a lot more art relating to women on the walls of Leinster House. I thank the members of the art committee for that. Some of our colleagues are depicted in those paintings, which is very important. As I was explaining earlier to some of the members of Soroptimist International, there are many school groups visiting Leinster House at the moment. Given that there are so many depictions of male, stale and pale men hanging on the walls, it is important that we highlight the fact there is a lot of opportunity here for women.
The voices of women have to be heard not only in the Chambers, but in the corridors and they have to see it to be it. That is very important. I thank you for being here today. Having received that round of applause, we expect a phenomenal response from the Minister of State.
