Ms Maria Joyce:

The nature of the Deputy's questions reflects some of the wider context in which questions will be asked. There are numerous examples of sensationalist media. "Big Fat Gypsy Weddings" was just stereotypical and sexist - the entire gauntlet of words - as regards Traveller women. I do not know if I am in danger when mentioning names or whatever, but we have also seen this when a presidential candidate came out on the anti-Traveller ticket, and what he exposed and the approach he took when he was lagging behind. He was last at that point in the race and then came out to make those comments. The coverage that got right across the media, whether it was against or for the comments, was like a feeding frenzy in the way it all got managed. It is not just about the sensationalist tag lines. It is the way in which the media come in around some of that which further impacts on it. That has a very detrimental impact on the community as a whole, as does any kind of media coverage that stereotypes the sexism within that community, or demonises or portrays a whole community as criminals because it sells papers or increases viewership. Those kind of things have to be held to account in the context of media in Ireland.

I will make one further point. I am very conscious that we have talked about quotas. In our submission, we named some wider issues that need to be addressed because they should be part of a package. It cannot be just the quotas themselves, as important as we see them to increasing the number of women in politics and ensuring a space for Traveller women in electoral politics, for example, reserved seats for Travellers. We need something that will instigate instant change to build on what needs to be done, alongside all the issues that were talked about today. I am also conscious of the issues that were talked about in more detail by this committee at its meeting on 13 October, including sustainability and all of that in the context of politics.

Looking to other examples in Europe, such as the Malta version discussed at the committee meeting on 13 October, when all that maths was added up and the seats were filled around the table, the right to have 12 seats for under-represented groups was reserved. That would bring instant change. Let us be honest about that. It would require legislation but there is no harm in doing that. We go down legislative routes when we need to. We need to look at this and prioritise it as part of the legislative process. If that happens, I hope that those seats for under-represented groups will be reflective of all Irish society, including Travellers.