Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I will comment on what I have been listening to and put the matter to bed. I am glad the sub-committee picked up on emigrants and said the Taoiseach, when selecting his nominees for the Seanad, should include people who can represent the interests and perspective of both emigrants and immigrants. The sub-committee acknowledged that emigrants should have a role here. That is fundamentally important, and one could spend an hour discussing it.

Though I have not been asked to do so, I am speaking on behalf of Dr. Yvonne Galligan of the Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics. I got to know her as an undergraduate in UCD, where we both did a degree in economics and politics at night class. She went on to get a doctorate in politics and is a mega lady. The Dáil and the Seanad have some of the lowest levels in Europe for women's participation in parliament. It has been shown that in any country where more women are represented in parliament, a broader range of issues comes through in legislation. It has been proven that women see things differently. Child care is a significant issue to me, and it is not really figuring in the Dáil.

We should have social and political engineering through temporary positive discrimination quotas to get more women into the Dáil and the Seanad, though we are here to talk about the latter. The next time the Taoiseach makes his nominations, I will speak to him about half of them being women. I said at a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party that the Dublin committee looking after the local elections was a seven-man one. Seven men were considering the candidates for Dublin. That is sick; half the population is female, and women are in the workforce. We must all become more aware, and more women must be put on the committees. I will not hold up matters any longer. I hope I have got the point across that I would like to see more women here. In any country where more women are represented, after social engineering has taken place, there is better legislation, since we have a different perspective on matters, as I am sure the Minister would agree. We naturally have a different outlook. It would be all the better if there were more women in the Seanad.

I thank Senator Kitt for facilitating me in attending the other meeting before 4 o'clock.