Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My colleagues may be aware that I am opposed in principle to gender quotas. The issue in this case is that even if the same legislative provisions regarding the selection of candidates as will apply to general elections were also to apply to local elections, those provisions relate only to the nomination of candidates. The bottom line is that voters will ultimately determine the gender mix of elected members. If we were to stipulate that a local authority which does have a gender balance in its membership must ensure the same balance is achieved in its appointments to the education and training board, we would effectively be discriminating against such authorities as against those which do not have a gender balance. We cannot have legislation which treats local authorities differently in respect of their nominations to VECs and ETBs. What Deputy O'Brien is proposing would actually impose a restriction in terms of who can be appointed by a local authority. The requirement would not simply be that the authority must put forward a particular type of candidate; there would actually be a limitation on its democratic mandate. That is my difficulty with these amendments.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue's earlier amendment, which was withdrawn, sought to impose a restriction on the staff that could be employed by local authorities. Any move towards proscribing the recruitment of staff on the basis of gender would amount to a very dramatic innovation. That, in my view, is going too far and would be a mistake. We must be more reflective in considering these issues.