Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)

The Bill is a welcome measure and I am delighted to see it before the House. We know all too well that the link between politics and money is an unhealthy one and, therefore, the greater transparency that is brought to this matter the better.

I also welcome the commitment to introduce gender quotas for political parties, because I believe that in a democracy, it is truly representative of the people. When half of one's own country is not properly represented in this House, the laws we make and the decisions we take can be too reflective of a male dominated society.

The main tenets that form the core of this Bill are necessary and today's publication of the report by the Mahon tribunal emphasises this necessity. It was with great dismay that I read the outcome of the tribunal whose report has been 15 years in the making. Its 3,270 pages make for interesting, yet desperately disappointing, reading. It is certainly true that Fianna Fáil has severely damaged the economy, but it is equally true that the body politic has been undermined by the revelations contained in the report.

The Mahon tribunal's report has demonstrated that Bertie Ahern failed to account truthfully for more than €165,000, which is quite incredible. This is the same Bertie Ahern who gave the performance of a lifetime when he told his sob story on RTE, and has now been found to be totally lacking in credibility. If this information from the Mahon tribunal had come out at the 2007 elections, I wonder how different things might have been. A different government would likely have been elected and the responses to our economic downturn would, in my opinion, have been far better than those of the last tired Government clinging to power.

Mr. Bertie Ahern was not the only Fianna Fáil TD who has been subject to findings in this report. Indeed, findings of corruption have been made against several former TDs, including people like Pádraig Flynn. I was also disturbed that members of the previous Cabinet made sustained and virulent attacks on the integrity of the tribunal's members. The report states that "There appears little doubt but that the objective of these extraordinary and unprecedented attacks on the Tribunal were to undermine the efficient conduct of the Tribunal, erode its independence and collapse its inquiry". Perhaps this is not unexpected, given that previous Cabinet members repeatedly stood by Mr. Bertie Ahern when the dogs in the street knew something was off in the affairs of the then Taoiseach. I am in favour of tying political funding to the selection of female candidates at general elections. It is unfortunate that quotas are necessary, as the idealist in me would like to see a natural 50:50 breakdown in representation. However, given that only 15% of Members of the Dáil are women - this is an historic high - it is clear that change is needed. Of the Members of the previous Dáil, 13% were women and before that there were even fewer. These percentages are appalling and reasons abound for the lack of representation. An Oireachtas study carried out in 2009 demonstrated that five Cs need to be addressed to facilitate the entry of more women into politics: confidence, child care, cash, culture and candidate selection.

See this speech in context