Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hear the Deputy.

I had not intended asking questions but the Taoiseach's answers have tempted me. It is too tempting for us to continue talking about gender, democracy and our electoral system because it is a subject where we have direct experience. I certainly agree with the Taoiseach that quotas alone at local level will not necessarily produce the benefit we want. We have been quite successful at achieving good gender balance in some councils and a strict quota could lead to the perverse situation where you would have to increase the number of males contesting, which over two terms might reduce the capacity we are trying to build. I know my party, the Social Democrats and the Green Party on Dublin City Council all have majority female representatives, which is fantastic. Some of them are first-time councillors and you would like to them develop their experience over time, so we need to be very careful with quotas. There are definitely other benefits such as maternity leave and the increase in pay.

The other area referenced by the Taoiseach is the constitutional amendment. The committee has not spent all its time talking about the constitutional amendment. We have spent far more of our time talking about the other recommendations. The Taoiseach suggested a collaborative approach. Has he sought the Attorney General's view on it? As for us drafting wording and so on, is there a method whereby we can receive some of the directions from the Attorney General that might help inform our final wording? That would be useful. I have two more questions but I might let the Taoiseach come in on that one.