Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Indeed, as she always does. Senator Bradford picked up on the point Senator van Turnhout made about women not being disinterested in politics. That is absolutely true. Women are not disinterested in politics. They are affected by politics as much as men are. That is why it is important for women to be well represented in politics. Their particular insights should be heard in the political arena. The concerns of women should always be ventilated at the highest level. That did not happen for many years. Despite not having achieved equal representation for women in politics or even anything like equal representation, much has changed on that front. Undoubtedly, there is still some way to go and I have talked on Second Stage about the changes I think are really necessary. I do not like the tokenism nor the intrusiveness of what is proposed in this legislation. I think it interposes between the people and the political system in a way that is quite inappropriate and this is why I referred to it on Second Stage as social engineering. I do not resile from that opinion.