Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late but I read the opening statements last night and this morning. This is a conversation I often have with Sinéad, who helps me out with this committee. Between 1989 and 1994, the European Parliament had 20% women and the Dáil today has 23% women. That is how long it has taken us to catch up but it is also a sign of how slow we have been with regard to the challenge on our hands and how important this conversation is in terms of what the Parliament of our country looks and feels like. I have a question about the mechanism for the incentives for political parties. Last year the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage allocated €150,000 to political parties to increase female participation in the next local elections. It is expected to provide that funding again in 2022 and 2023. In order to access those funds, political parties have to set out strategic timelines over the next three years as to how they will support and prepare female candidates in the run-up to the local elections in 2024. Should the Government consider providing a regular funding stream but attach a condition of local election quotas in order to access those moneys? Is that the incentive piece or is that the mechanism that could be the incentive piece? I hear the witnesses loud and clear about the importance of introducing penalties. Ms Gleeson mentioned the deflection by the Taoiseach yesterday but we have also heard that stalling from the Department around penalties and how we will do this. I personally would not be that optimistic about the quota being introduced by 2024. That is hard to acknowledge because the witnesses have outlined the missed opportunity the 2019 elections were. It seems parties are still trying to come to terms with the idea that we need a quota at local level. Would that mechanism be the place for that incentive in the future?