Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I loved the witnesses' opening statements. I am sorry I was not present to hear them, but I read their submissions at the weekend. I value that we are championing making sure that we hear women's voices. This is the first Seanad to have such a large percentage of women. Consequently, the content of debate is more empathetic and a different side of things is heard.

I get what Senator O'Sullivan is saying a little. Sometimes, when you are in one of the more traditional political parties, you can feel that you are judged, momentum is moving away and you are not included. As a woman in a Government party, though, I am no less a feminist and advocate than someone in an Opposition party. We need to be sensitive to and respectful of that. In my party's history, there have been many fine women who broke glass ceilings and were fantastic champions of feminism.

I have experience of being the CEO of an organisation that built homeless accommodation at a cost of €13 million. The first time I sat down with a number of my managers and the design team, the architect chairing the design team asked me – I was the only woman in the room – if I would take the notes. One of our managers, whom I went on to marry, was quick to turn around and say "I do not think so and do not ever address her like that again" before I got an opportunity to say it. This is a perfect example of an attitude in the room that women were subservient. It is important that we name it, call it out and tackle it.

I value that we conduct a great deal of analysis of candidates, the number of women candidates, the number of Deputies, the number of Senators and the number of councillors, but one area where analysis is lacking is in the permanent government. I have been in national politics for three years and was elected to a council in 2019. In my three years in national politics, I have realised how much of a say the permanent government has. I sometimes wonder whether it has an inherent misogyny. There have been issues with the representation of various Departments at Oireachtas committees - there can be only men and male voices at the table. I wonder about that and the impact it has. Has there been any analysis of this matter and is it something that the witnesses might consider doing? We got feedback during the development of the surrogacy legislation – the Chair will be familiar with it – that was very male dominated and did not have a female input, and those of us on the surrogacy committee were not necessarily asked for our input either. We should be calling this issue out. Maybe we need quotas in the permanent government. There are women in lead roles in the likes of the Department of Health, but we need to tackle this issue in the permanent government.

I wonder about gender quotas. I agree that we need to force the issue. Otherwise, it will not happen. It raises resentment, though, which has to be negotiated. There is the idea that someone is in her role because she is a woman, was picked for it, etc. That is unfair and disingenuous as regards the skill and hard work involved. I got on the ticket in 2019 because I was a woman and a woman's inclusion in the local authority ward was necessary, but I went out, proved myself and won the election. Technically, I was a token woman candidate, but I got through the election because I took the opportunity and ran with it. It was a little of what Senator O'Sullivan referenced.

We need to consider the matter of women activists, but I will stop there, as I want to hear what the witnesses have to say about the permanent government.