Ms Tara Farrell:

I have a few brief points to make, one of which follows on from Dr. Buckley's input. Since 2009, we in the women's manifesto group in Longford have been calling for things like job descriptions for councillors and for it to be seen as a legitimate career path as opposed to something, as Dr. Buckley noted, that is seen as part-time.

Regarding the change that is needed, as I said earlier, there are a lot of models of good practice. It is really important to look at the roles of civil society and organisations like ours and Women for Election. From our perspective in See Her Elected, we are very much a grassroots organisation and very focused on rural constituencies. We can reach women in rural Ireland, which is really important. Political education is what will bring about a lot of the change that is needed. We know women are very enthusiastic and hungry for political education. We have seen more than 700 women taking part in our online SHE school, particularly during the Covid period. That appetite is out there and it is really important that organisations like ours continue to be resourced and supported to ensure women have all the information they need through, for example, the guidebook, the associated workshops and so on. Having that information enables them to make informed decisions about running for office.

I appreciate that the commute for local government candidates may not be the same as it is for the Dáil but, as Dr. Buckley pointed out, in counties like Cork and Galway, it is a long way, say, from east Galway to the Aran Islands. There are very remote and rural areas in this country we are able to reach by virtue of being a grassroots organisation. It is really important to bear in mind the role civil society plays in this change.