According to Sinn Féin election candidate Cllr. David Cullinane women are bearing a disproportionate burden of the social inequalities in modern Ireland. Cllr. Cullinane believes that women are subjected to unequal treatment across a range of issues, such as unequal pay, the unfair financial treatment of carers and single parents, the inadequate funding made available for support centres such as the Rape Crisis Centre and Womens Refuges. He also states that "Sinn Féin has pledged to increase Maternity Leave to 52 weeks, and also to introduce Paternity Leave of 4 weeks to enable men to support their partners in the first few crucial weeks of a child’s life". Cllr. Cullinane is adamant that these inequalities must be addressed. He claims that what has been set down in legislation does not translate into reality, "Despite equal pay legislation, women’s wages as a proportion of men’s wages have actually dropped in recent years". He also suggests that the present difficulties faced by the nurses are rooted in patriarchal attitudes and traditions that do not value women’s contribution to the workforce, "predominantly female occupations have traditionally not been properly valued. I doubt if the nurses would be in the position they are if the majority of nurses were men". The Sinn Féin election candidate finds the financial persecution suffered by many female carers and single mothers utterly deplorable, "Although I don’t want to ignore the valuable work that men do in this area, it is true that the majority of carers in this country are women, yet many will lose out on pensions and are unable to claim the Carer’s Allowance because of their partner’s income. I want to see pensions credits for carers and the means test for the Carer’s Allowance abolished. Most single parents are women, and many are caught in a poverty trap because the high cost of childcare means they cannot afford to go out to work. We need to take women who want to work out of the poverty trap by providing sufficient free childcare places for those who need it". Cllr. Cullinane concluded by saying that he knew women didn’t want special treatment. "The problem is that women are now disproportionately disadvantaged in many ways and we need to address those inequalities. Women need to know that they are being treated equally, that their contribution to society is valued, and at present it clearly isn’t. I want to address those inequalities and to continue a dialogue with women’s advocacy groups to establish the best way to do that".