Shadow Human Affairs Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said that in his experience more than 68 percent of patients who make use of the medical services are women.

"Women in Bermuda are more likely to seek medical advice and treatment,'' he said. "That is a tribute to women and evidence of leadership...and 50 percent of the men that come in for medical care are sent by those women.'' Dr. Brown said that women do have concerns about health care but he added that as a result of the new corporate responsibilities and time allocations women have taken on there is a lot of stress.

And he said it was important that everyone learned to manage stress.

"The women of Bermuda have accepted a very challenging proposition. I am proud to say that most of them are handling it well.'' UBP backbencher Maxwell Burgess said that the whole question of women's issues is timely and one on which wide debate should occur.

But he said that there are issues that must be addressed that women have.

However, he pointed out that it was important to look at who was causing the problems that concern women.

Mr. Burgess said that until society can cause black men to feel good about themselves the black household will continue to be at risk.

And he said that while it may be true that women are more likely to make use of medical services than men, the reason for this was because women often are employed and are thus insured.

Men who are unemployed, he said, have no insurance and will not go to a doctor and incur a bill.

Mr. Burgess called on parents not to bring children into the world if they do not have the financial or emotional resources to support that child's development.

Furthermore he said that Government did have a role in supporting families through the creation of a proper framework and economy.

Shadow Sports Minister Nelson Bascome said that many of the issues under the term women's issues were in fact human issues.

However, he said that the momentum for women's issues is growing but it was important to bring as many men as possible up to a reasonable standard so that they can support their families.

And he added that there would be a lowering of violent incidents aimed at women and children if men felt more of a sense of worth.

"The self worth of the black male in this community is at its lowest,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Ann Cartwright Decouto (UBP) said that she was glad that the debate on the Task Force report on Women's Issues had taken place.

And she said that a great debt of gratitude was owed to the persons who put the report together.

Mrs. Cartwright Decouto said that many of the recommendations in the report are not really women's issues. Rather they were societal issues.

The real difference she said came about because men and women differ physically and emotionally because women bear and care for children.

Consequently women who were employed were also responsible for child care after the period of maternity leave ended.

This translated into a cost of around $5,200 per year for each child in nursery care before that child reaches primary school.

Either Government could extend the school system further down to accommodate younger children she said or think about implementing subsidies for mothers who need it to assist with the cost of nursery school care.

Mrs. Cartwright Decouto said that nursery school care was a substantial cost to a single parent.

"This has nothing to do with black or white,'' she said. "It is about mothers and fathers...its not about earnings and jobs.'' And Mrs. Cartwright Decouto said a new system of collecting maintenance payments needed to be devised especially in cases where orders had been made in the courts. The UBP backbencher also rubbished suggestions made by earlier speakers that black men who are unable to find work were predisposed to violence against the women in their lives. She said violence happened across all of society.

Shadow Health Minister Renee Webb said that parenting was a difficult job and required "as many hands on deck as possible.'' She said that the Task Force report was an indictment of the United Bermuda Party because many of its recommendations should have been put into effect because they have had 35 years in which to do it.

Noting the report recommendation to set up literacy programmes, Ms Webb questioned why Bermuda had an illiteracy problem.

"Bermuda should have a 99.9 percent literacy rate,'' she said. "I want to know why no programmes have already been put in place.'' And she argued that a recommended survey on employer's attitudes regarding training was a waste of money.

"Save the money and spend it elsewhere,'' Ms Webb said.

She also questioned whether the courts had kept up-to-date on the cost of raising a child.

Ms Webb claimed that the courts were only ordering fathers to pay between $50 and $75 a week per child.

"That is not enough, especially when day care is $100 a week.'' And she said that every day care in Bermuda should be licensed and meet certain standards.

Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness said the next step in championing women's issues was to create a Commission for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women in society.

He said the Commission would implement the report's recommendations, try to make children and women a priority in society and change the attitudes in Bermuda.

"Attitudes won't change over night,'' he pointed out. "That's why we need a dedicated body with sufficient powers to work on it daily.'' Mr. Edness also told the House that a review was underway to consider how best to enact equal pay and employment rights legislation.

And he informed his colleagues that a Domestic Violence Intervention Team was being formed to respond to domestic violence calls.

The team will consist of members of the Police and Social Services.

Mr. Edness also said standards and criteria for mammograms should be completed within the next six months and the issue of day care will be addressed by the Government in a comprehensive Children's Act.

He said that the act would prevent sex offenders from working with children.

UBP backbencher Trevor Moniz backed calls for a closer look at child care in Bermuda and threw his support behind a recommendation that business should be encouraged to provide day care for their employee's children.

Meanwhile, Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Stanley Morton encouraged women not to be "afraid'' and join unions if they could not secure certain rights at their jobs.

And he reminded men about the importance of becoming a father and urged them not to lay the responsibility of raising a child at a woman's feet.

"It is important that each man be concerned about bringing a child into this world,'' he said. "There are many men who just don't care.'' PLP backbencher Ottiwell Simmons highlighted the trade union's track record regarding equal pay and women's rights.

"Trade unions should be proud of their track record,'' he said. "In the labour movement there is no discrimination at all. Opportunities are based on qualifications.

"We have a saying in the labour movement, like work -- like pay,'' he added.

"And all of the benefits are the same.'' Mr. Simmons said the only area of discrimination that labour could not address was maternity leave.

But he said that the union was looking at paternity leave -- allowing husbands to take time off.

UBP backbencher and Task Force Chairperson Kim Young said the report attempted to focus on the family.

"By focusing on the family you address women's issues,'' she said.

And she responded to criticism that the report was repetitive by pointing out that if things aren't repeated nothing will change.

Equal pay is a `first'step -- MP Mrs. Young said unlike other reports, the Task Force on Women's Issues has not just sat unused on a shelf.

"Some of the recommendations have been put in place,'' she said.

Mrs. Young said that the Government was in the process of drawing up equal pay legislation.

"Equal pay is the first step,'' she said. "Then we need to address equal pay for equal work.'' Mrs. Young also said legislation was needed to allow for the removal of physically or mentally challenged people who were being abused.

And she highlighted the need for emergency housing for victims of domestic violence and the need to have standards for mammography.

Mrs. Young also put forth a personal recommendation that a task force be instituted to look into men's issues.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith , meanwhile, said that she was most interested in the recommendations from the report which related to children and education.

And she said that she agreed that there was a need for Government to implement specific improvements in the area of day care.

More than two years ago Ms Smith said the call went out for day care centres to be licensed and have standards and regulations but nothing has happened to make this a reality.

Ms Smith said that there was a constituency on the Island that would benefit from subsidised day care because they could not afford the high cost of quality day care yet they would most benefit from it.

Deputy Premier Jerome Dill said that the United Bermuda Party government was committed to the direction of the report and he accepted that literacy was a very important issue.

He pointed out that Government faced the difficulties that had come to light regarding the less than adequate literacy skills of some students at CedarBridge Academy.

And he heaped praise on the teaching staff who produced a plan of action within six weeks without requiring or using any additional resources.