Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I had the honour of being appointed by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Walsh, to the board of Bord Bia. I wish to make it clear that in my position as a Senator, I will continue to raise the issue of the equality of women and the democratic deficit for women in the Oireachtas. Female representation in the Houses is at just 17% whereas women now comprise 50% of the workforce.

The Minister has been very generous on this issue. He is very supportive of women in his organisation and believes in women. I ask him to encourage his colleagues to raise the ante on the participation of women on boards. There does not seem to be any sense of how undemocratic this is, although I was honoured to be nominated to the board by the Minister and I loved the position.

Regarding the comments of other Senators, many of the key buyers in food industry multiples are women; Senator Quinn would endorse that point. It is good to have women in such positions. The food industry is concerned with issues such as product identification and knowing what the consumer wants and it is the buyers who know most on these issues. Senator Quinn knows that if one was to get well in with buyers, they could tell one what consumers want. Women are clever people. I ask the Minister to impress on his Cabinet colleagues the need for more women on boards when appointments are made.