Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak to the Bill. While I am a relatively new Deputy, I have been around long enough to know that when it comes to politics and corruption, as politicians, we are presumed guilty. I do not expect the electorate to forgive and forget what happened in the not-so-distant past. It has enshrined a deep mistrust in the people of politicians and the Government. We still are waiting for justice to be done after the release into the public domain of of two damning, yet predictable, reports - the Moriarty and Mahon tribunal reports - and we will not be allowed to move on until that happens. However, we must try.

We must plan for the future without paralysing ourselves with what has gone on previously. Like it or not, politics costs money. There is nothing wrong with people making donations to political parties, as long as it is done in a transparent and controlled manner that does not allow for the exertion of influence on policy. We must also be careful not to create further barriers to entering politics by making it the preserve of an elite. A mix of low caps on donations, with transparency, is the best way to allow political parties and those with no party affiliation to continue to sustain themselves without the need for additional taxpayer funding, which is the only alternative.

I wish to pause for one moment to reflect on what the previous Deputy said about political funding. It is not the wish of the electorate to fully fund political parties, but at the same time political parties can only adhere to the rules enshrined in legislation, not what they hope they will be in the future. One cannot retrospectively apply legislation on how political parties publish their annual accounts. This matter was raised with me when I guested on radio shows and "Tonight with Vincent Browne" and I have heard it raised on Joe Duffy's radio programme and so on. It is a nonsense that the current Government's wishes for the Bill are being applied to our stance three or four years ago when we were in opposition. We hope to apply this legislation now in order that it will be the rule in the future, not the past.

Funding political parties with taxpayers' money would be an undesirable outcome that the electorate did not envisage when we discussed reform during last year's election campaign. It is for the good of the nation that the public should engage in politics. Unfortunately, given the controversy surrounding corruption in politics down the years, people have become apolitical, which is not in the best interests of our nation.

Funds for political parties are used locally, for election and referendum campaigns and to allow local members to highlight what they believe to be important information to their electorates. Members and supporters of political parties volunteer their time and energy to political campaigns. It is worth remembering that the work involved in putting up posters, dropping leaflets through doors and calling to houses to try to engage people on the issues of the day is done on a voluntary basis by party political or non-political people, whichever the case may be. Regardless of which party one supports, volunteering as a member of a party is one of the most patriotic things that a person can do. Funding for local branches and political groups goes towards leaflets and posters as well as meetings that allow branches and local organisations to sustain their contribution to democracy, without which we would be unable to continue. This should not be regarded as a negative aspect of local politics, as funding must be forthcoming if local organisations of every political hue and none are to be able to campaign. We need to learn from the mistakes of the past and ensure we are fully transparent and only accept donations that are genuine personal contributions to democracy without allowing them to be influential transactions.

Recently, I read the online musings of an individual who had been involved in American politics for approximately 30 years before moving to Ireland a short time ago. He found it amusing and surprising that individuals in his social group believed party political people and those who campaigned on behalf of Independents were paid. We do this work out of a deep-seated sense of public service. We want to contribute to and change our society. I say this on behalf of the tens of thousands of members of my political party and others.

If we are to keep the tradition of political activism alive, we must create an environment in which fund-raising is allowed so as to minimise the cost to the taxpayer. The issue of lobbying will be addressed at a later stage via another Bill, but we cannot discuss electoral reform and funding without noting the need for a register of lobbyists. I do not like to tar all lobbyists with the same brush, but every Deputy knows we are bombarded with e-mails and telephone calls each day as well as meetings with various lobby groups. Some of those groups are worthy and are seeking access to politicians and Government members for good reasons. Everyone has a right to be heard and should be allowed access to local and national politicians for the purpose of putting a point across. There is nothing wrong with that.

As we all know, however, especially in these times when resources are not easily parted with and legislation is being constantly updated, lobbying has become a heavily invested profession. There is a concern that those who shout the loudest or, as in this case, spend the most on professional lobbying are heard over those who might not have the resources or expertise to do likewise. I look forward to the establishment of legislation that will create a register of lobbyist as well as a fairer platform for all interest groups and businesses to engage with the Government and Opposition.

I will make a few comments regarding gender quotas. Regardless of whether we agree with quotas, Ireland has one of the worst representations of women in parliament of all OECD countries. I welcome the efforts being made by the Minister to increase female participation in the Dáil on the basis that a representative parliament should correspond to the composition of society.

It is a stark realisation that, if we continue as we are, it is predicted that it will take 370 years to reach a level of 50:50 representation in the House. While I am delighted to know that my great-great-great-great-granddaughter stands a good chance of being elected to the Dáil in the 23rd century, it shows that the well-meaning efforts that parties have already voluntarily put in place to increase female participation are going nowhere fast. Fine Gael aimed for an increase of up to ten women Deputies in the last election. We attained six new female Deputies. All other parties bar one that are represented in the Chamber had similar targets based on various elections over the years and have come similarly shy of their targets. Unfortunately, quotas are not a guarantee of success. This is apparent in various other countries that have introduced similar legislation. While there has been a notable improvement, there has been a high price of failure at grassroots level. For this reason, political parties need to engage with measures to increase female participation at local level. We must reconsider how local candidates and talent are found.

As a young member of my local Fine Gael branch in Malahide, I was approached to run for the council by one of the strongest female performers in the Dáil, former Minister Nora Owen, who has noted at times the reluctance of successful, ambitious women to enter politics. We must acknowledge that there are barriers in self-selection and party selection. Women's participation in politics at branch level is strong. In Fine Gael, 42% of members are female. The interest exists - it is just a matter of getting women on the ballot paper and elected. Contrary to the previous speaker's statement, evidence points to the fact that, once women are on the ballot paper, they have an equal opportunity to get elected. This has been borne out by statistics. The evidence portrays the uphill challenge for political parties to find the right candidates for future elections and to encourage women to put themselves forward. I cannot imagine that any woman would want to be a token candidate for any party. It would not be good for our democracy or our Parliament if we were to bring a candidate in for the sake of it.

We are fast approaching the 2014 local elections. While I note that the legislation will not apply quotas to them, parties will adopt this approach for their upcoming conventions. Politics is not a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. business. Some have suggested that moving to such an arrangement would be easier for the women entering the House, but every Member and everyone who has been involved in politics at any stage knows that politics is seven days per week, 24 hours per day and depends heavily on what is occurring.

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