Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona go léir. Happy International Women's Day in particular to all the amazing women elected to the Dáil, past and present, as well as all those in the Seanad and all women in politics. We remember in particular the women and young girls of Ukraine today, fleeing conflict and war and leaving behind husbands and fathers. We remember all women and girls fleeing or caught up in conflict. The words of a great woman, Ms Patti Smith, come to mind:

And the armies ceased advancing

Because the people had their ear

We hope this war ends soon.

It is at times like this we cherish our democracy, flawed and all as it is. In that regard, I will speak briefly to the role of the electoral reform Bill that was before the Cabinet today in helping to reshape democracy and make it more representative for and by women. I will start by focusing on the submission of the National Women's Council on the electoral reform Bill. Some of the observations it put forward were around promoting gender balance in political life and electoral contests, including necessary changes to support women's access to elected office, using a broad range policy role to engage groups facing barriers in participating in electoral systems, and safeguarding equity of access for all, including Travellers, young people, disabled people and people from minority ethnic backgrounds. It advocated the creation of conditions for safe and fair elections, electoral competition and electoral communication.

There were a number of recommendations. The council welcomed our inclusion in the Bill of the recognition of the need for anonymous registration where there are issues of a woman's safety due to experience of intimate partner violence and where such women may be compromised by having a name and address being publicly available on the electoral register. There is the inclusion of a proposed register for young people aged 16 and 17 in schools before they become eligible to vote, and that will be included in the Bill. There is also the question of ensuring equitable balance between women and men as members of the commission, and we will include that as well.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, mentioned general and local elections. The impact of gender provisions was clear in the 2016 election, with a total of 163 women contesting the election, representing 30% of the 551 candidates. This was a significant increase over the 2011 election, when only 15% of the candidates were women. In 2016, 35 women were elected to Dáil Éireann, representing 22% of the total membership, compared with 15% in 2011. It is still not enough, although there was an increase in 2020. We can see only a very marginal improvement between the 2014 and 2019 local elections, going from 21% to 23%. I know the recommendation from both the National Women's Council and the Citizens' Assembly on gender is for gender quotas for local elections as well.

There is an onus on all of us in political parties to work together and go beyond these recommendations. The commission will have an important role to play in changing our political system and make our council chambers and Dáil more reflective and representative of those who live here. We must look to ourselves and our political parties, as well as our independent structures, to ensure we go beyond mandatory quotas or token representation. We must be proactive and reach out to women to ensure they can stand for election. We must reach out to minorities and Traveller women and we must make party structures more welcoming to diversity and positive discrimination to women candidates.

The commission's awareness and promotion capacity will be built over time and it will play an active role in voter participation. There is the idea of pre-registration of youths aged 16 and 17 and consideration of reducing the voting age to 16. I have my own views on that and it is important we have an informed and impartial view of such concepts. Greater participation in elections and referendums by more people of all ages and genders will, over time, transform how we as politicians and political parties engage. It will transform a range of matters we are campaigning on in local, European and Oireachtas elections, with a focus on gender equality, climate, biodiversity, inclusion and diversity.

What will our next scheduled local election events look like if this works? We could see at least 40% women candidates with targeted resources allocated by parties to help them get elected. We could see greater diversity, with successful candidates from minority communities, including our Traveller community. We could see a reduction in the voting age to 16. We could see a more women-friendly schedule for council work and for work-life balance. We should see a transformation but it will require our collective action to achieve it.

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