Dr. Michelle Maher:

I would like to pick up on Senator O'Reilly's concern about the attrition rate among female county councillors because it is something that we share. There is no point in us and our friends in Women for Election doing work to support women into politics if they are not then staying in politics. That is why we extend what we are doing out into campaign teams. We are not just trying to support women to become candidates; we also want well-equipped women to get behind them and to help them get support in rural Ireland. It is one thing that we would like to be able to continue.

In terms of the electoral system itself, I welcome the setting up of an Electoral Commission. The question is how political parties can be incentivised to not only reach quotas for women but also to place them into one of the seats. It is not just a numbers game. The women candidates need to be supported into seats where they have a chance of winning. As part of its research budget, the Women's Regional Caucus has written to the chairperson of the Electoral Commission to look at how quotas could be introduced and how political parties could be incentivised. Part of the programme within the Women's Regional Caucus is how to make the job more doable for themselves. They are concerned that a lot of council meetings are beginning to slip back to being in person, and that makes it hard to balance for those who are students, and those who have caring responsibilities or another career. Some members cite that local authorities say there are issues with equipment and facilities that must be addressed and supported centrally. That came out strongly as well in the family friendly toolkit that the National Women's Council recently prepared. From the perspective of an outsider looking in, it would seem that there are easy fixes to keep the hybrid method of working in place.