Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives of the three organisations for being with us here today. We were anxious to ensure that groups such as those represented today with a long track record of representing people who are under-represented within the political system had a voice in this Bill. Our guests are right in saying it is something that has long been campaigned for. I certainly appreciate the fact this legislation has come before us so soon in the lifetime of the Government and that a commission will be established. I also welcome some of the positive suggestions that are being made with regard to the ambition of the commission. It can go ever further.

To bridge the three different areas represented within a five-minute speaking slot is challenging. I will try to ask each of our guests a specific question and I promise to try to flesh out some of the ideas that our guests have put forward when we are drafting our report. We have made a start on many of these issues but we have not gone a long way. There were no women on the ballot paper the first time I ran for election to Dublin City Council. When I left, almost 50% of the members of the council were women.

My first question is to the representatives of the National Women's Council. I fully support gender quotas at local level. My fear is that quotas may erode some of the progress that has already been made. On Dublin City Council, the majority of Fianna Fáil, Green Party and Social Democrats members are women. A gender quota may actually erode some of that progress. In other words, there may need to be male quotas in some cases. Could we talk a little about how we can avoid eroding the progress that has been made and how we can build the capacity and experience of women councillors?