Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Before the Dáil suspended, we debated the Labour Party's proposal that there should be a 40% quota for both men and women, respectively, in the new super quango, with the balance to be chosen by the parties to the body in whatever fashion they choose. The Minister of State spoke about the difficulty involved in persuading various bodies to adopt a quota. Deputy Boyle spoke about his experience as a member of the National Economic and Social Council. Neither IBEC nor the farmers' organisations had women representatives and 20% of trade unions were women representatives. In the voluntary and NGO sectors, about 60% were women representatives.

It is absurd if the major bodies representing industry and farming are allowed to have no women representatives at these ongoing discussions. As far as I know, there are thousands of women very actively involved in farming, and many women are also involved in business. The trade union record of women representation is somewhat better but not by much. The Government, with this legislation, should not pander to the failure of these bodies to provide for the inclusion of women. It is not good enough. The Government spends a vast amount of money on this structure and all these bodies have signed up to lengthy reports, with significant participation by women. However, the Government, through legislation, allows these bodies a free hand to completely exclude women.

At this time, it should not be necessary to make this type of comment. Part of the reason there is no sense of urgency on the part of the Government or the Taoiseach, who is sponsoring this Bill, is perhaps that there are so few women representing Fianna Fáil in this House. The Taoiseach is concerned with social inclusion, which is fine as long as women are included. I do not accept the Minister of State's explanation of why he is not prepared to insist on appropriate, adequate and serious representation of women, on a par with men, in a consultative body. As the Minister of State stated, this body produces reports on everything from child care to migration to housing and women's participation in the life of this country.

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