Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

The impact of that is that nobody trusts us.

Of course there have been improvements for which the Government deserves credit. The Topical Issue Debate has been good. I was lucky to have a Bill selected for discussion on a Friday, which was a fantastic opportunity. However, we are tinkering at the edges. While I really welcome the Bill and the impact it will have, it is still marginal at a time when the Government has the space - there is the need - to be radical.

Article 28.4.1° of the Constitution states: "The Government shall be responsible to Dáil Éireann" - to us. That means the Government should be responsible and accountable to this House. My experience over the past year indicates that is not in any way accountable to this House. The examples I have given suggest a culture that suggests it in no way believes itself to be accountable to this House. We are less than we could be with that culture in place.

The Bill considers gender quotas and political funding. As I have said previously, I applaud the Minister for dealing with gender quotas. This is a great move. The current situation is appalling. We are 77th in the world in terms of gender representation and 22nd among the 27 EU members. Only 15% of the Dáil is female and only 12% of Cabinet is female, and the situation is getting worse. Only 15% of candidates last year were women, which is the lowest percentage since 1989. Ireland is one of the worst in the developed world in terms of representation by females and we are getting worse. This is not represented in the make-up of the parties or political interests. Fianna Fáil is the most notable example. Some 35% or slightly more of the party is female, but there is not a single female Fianna Fáil Deputy. This is an extraordinary situation. Almost half of constituencies have no female Deputies - a shocking situation. At local government level the situation is just as bad, with just 16% of councillors being women. Only two of the 24 county councillors in Wicklow County Council are women.

Nobody likes quotas, but the research is unambiguous - gender representation does not work without quotas. When the system is so totally skewed and dominated by men, the introduction of quotas is a necessary - but insufficient - element of a policy response that will kick the system back to a better equilibrium. We are all aware of the Five Cs report, which states that candidate selection, cash, child care, confidence and culture are the five blockers to more female participation. Evidence from around the world suggests the critical mass is 30% - that is reflected in the initial quota here - and that at 30%, things begin to happen at the candidate selection stage.

I put it to the Minister that we need to go further. France and Belgium have quotas of 50% and Spain has a quota of 40%. The 30% rule requires very minor changes from Fine Gael and the Labour Party, in terms of finding more female candidates. The timing issue suggests that we will not hit 40% by 2021. While I applaud what the Minister is doing, I advise that he should select a 40% quota, sooner rather than later and he should also apply it to local government. The Minister told me before that he does not have the power to apply the rules to local government because political funding only applied nationally. He should find that power. We make the rules in this House, so let us make a rule that will allow the regulation apply to local government. This change needs to happen.

I welcome the various changes in the Bill with regard to political funding. However, I urge that the Minister takes a serious look at party political funding. We have a very strange situation in this country whereby some political funding goes directly to the elected Deputies. We all get a parliamentary allowance, a travel allowance, a staff of two and an office. Independent Deputies also get a leader's allowance which other Deputies do not get. However, the parties get vastly more per Deputy than the €41,000 or €42,000 Independent Deputies get. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin get €120,000 per Deputy and an extra staff member for a central secretariat. Labour and Fine Gael get approximately €60,000 and €70,000 extra per Deputy and an extra staff member. They get less because they are in government and have access to the Civil Service. I put it to the Minister that it would be healthier and more democratic for all political funding to be directed to the Deputy. The power and authority are invested in each of us as Deputies of Dáil Éireann. If Deputy Timmins wants to be a member of Fine Gael and the rule in Fine Gael is that any member must provide certain staff resources and money, that is fine. If someone wants to leave the party, they should take those resources with them.

I urge the Minister to consider two suggestions seriously. He should direct all political resources and funding to the individual Deputies, and let the parties decide for themselves how much should be given up. He should also radically reduce political funding. For example, if parties were only paid per Deputy the same as Independent Deputies get currently, this would save the Exchequer over €10 million per year. I applaud what the Minister is doing and urge him to be more radical. He has the political space and the country needs bigger and bolder changes than those currently in this Bill.

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