Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

The Bill is relevant today, of all days, in respect of the restrictions it seeks to place on corporate donations. As we read the report that we have on our computers today, perhaps this Bill does not go far enough. I know we will debate the report in full next week, but many people sat in this Chamber over the years - male and female - and they sat in local council chambers around this island, and 95% of them have served their country and their community for no other reason than to serve it. All of us who seek to serve the public are sullied today by what is in that report. In that context, we must look at this legislation and see if it is time once and for all to ban corporate donations. That places a responsibility on the Exchequer to fund democracy and to fund the operation of political parties. Perhaps that is where we need to go for a few years, as we reassess our priorities.

I was intrigued by Deputy Humphreys's contribution. It would reflect what I hear from people in my party who serve as councillors around the country and from people who served in this House. They got here on their own right. They had to fight a lot harder. I am in two minds as to whether the issue of quotas will get people here on their own right. We have a problem. We have never breached the 15% mark, and we need to do so. It was the former President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera, who described women as the boldest and most unmanageable of revolutionaries. That is the kind of attitude we need in this Chamber and in public life at the moment. However, we are not getting it because people are not voting or we are not putting forward enough candidates.

Perhaps gender quotas might be a temporary fix to break that system, but my worry is that it might be seen as a temporary fix and not address the real problem. We have a career and a profession that is not friendly towards anybody, regardless of one's gender or age. Perhaps those of us who are in here are so like mice running around in a cage, as it were, that we do not see that. I am intrigued by the number of new Members elected to this House last year who see that but their desire to change the hours and pressures wanes as the Dáil term proceeds because they get sucked into that race. We all sign up for it. I am very honoured to be here and one deals with the job one has. In terms of attracting different types of people to stand for public office, be it more women, young people or old people who have a great deal to give, while gender quotas might be an easy fix, if we do not change the nature of the job and the way we do our business, even if we have gender quotas, quotas for young people or quotas for older people, will those people stay in the job, having completed a five-year term and still have a passion for it in the way it is currently mixed and designed?

The work the National Women's Council of Ireland is doing in terms of promoting and mentoring a public discussion on the nature of the job is interesting. I am not sure if it favours a 50:50 approach. What Deputy Heather Humphreys said reflects what I hear from our female representatives throughout the country, namely, that they want to be here in their own right. They are on councils in their own right because they work hard in their communities and districts. The notion of quotas is alien to many of them, but if we need to introduce quotas to challenge those of us who in this House to change the nature of this space and the way we do our business, then we must examine doing so as a temporary fix. That would reflect much of the opinion I hear on this issue.

I have said what I intend to say on corporate donations. We will have a further opportunity to examine this issue next week. The way the legislation is designed is clunky. We are putting in place a registration process for the smallest of donations. If we are not going to ban them completely, which is something we should examine doing, putting all this paperwork and registration process in place is a bit of a joke. One has to register a donation of nearly 20 cent at this stage. We should either ban them completely or examine this kind of roundabout system of registration. I do not believe that will change the culture we are trying to change and that I believe everybody wants to change. The Government might review this legislation in light of what has been published today. It might stand back from it before it proceeds to Committee Stage, do the brave thing, ban corporate donations and level the playing pitch. However, the public needs to understand that in banning corporate donations, which is a very easy thing to do in the context of where we are at today and having regard to many reports over many years, we put the burden onto the State of funding democracy and funding the necessary work political parties have to do in terms of research, campaigning and advocacy. That will have to be fully State funded and that is where people's taxes will go if we go down the line many people will be seeking in the next few days in reaction to what they will read today.

The legislation is interesting and challenging but in terms of corporate donations it is not bold enough. In terms of gender quotas and changing the membership of this House, I repeat what I said about the boldest and most unmanageable of revolutionaries. I had the privilege of being Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs for 19 months and the first Minister for labour affairs in this country was Constance Markievicz, but we seem to have set ourselves back since those days when it was virtually unheard of for a woman to serve as a senior Minister. In the early days of the State we set ourselves very high standards and we seem to have moved back from those in many ways but particularly in this area. If one said to Constance Markievicz today that she would be in here as part of a 30% quota, I suspect that the boldest and most unmanageable revolutionary part of her might come to the fore.

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