Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

As I said, I welcome this. As regards the conservative measure, I ask the Minister and his officials to consider that the margin required to move from 30% to 40%, which is the Council of Europe's recommended percentage and ultimately the figure the Minister intends to reach, would require Fine Gael and the Labour Party finding an additional 24 and 12 female candidates, respectively. In the context of there being 2.25 million women in Ireland, it should not be beyond the abilities of the parties.

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