Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I have great sympathy with the question and the tone of Deputy Donnelly's remarks. I consider this to be a staging post towards achieving his objective. However, there is a conservative culture in the manner in which these matters can be addressed not only by men, but also by women. There is a balance to be struck between increasing the participation rate of women in politics, and people of either gender wishing to be in politics on merit. There is nothing to stop a person from standing as a candidate in an election for any political party or to stop political parties opting for a 50:50 ratio, if they wish. I am setting a floor in legislative form to ensure that at least 30% of both genders will be considered by political parties. It does not apply to independents at present.

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