Seanad debates

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Women's Participation in Politics: Statements.

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Lisa McDonaldLisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is the second time in a few weeks we have debated equality issues here, but before then this Seanad did not have such debates. This is the first time that the participation of women in politics has been debated by either House of the Oireachtas. In that regard, I pay tribute to Senator Bacik who has pushed tirelessly for this debate with the help of Senators on the Government side also. She has not let go of the issue and I hope we will see a certain velvet triangle developing here, whereby Members in all parties, as well as Independents, will push for reform in this area.

Last week, the House debated Senator Bacik's Bill on female genital mutilation. At that time, we saw a velvet triangle develop with pressure being exerted from all sides for some form of legislation to be brought before us, hopefully in this session. I am not aware of the exact components of that particular deal, but in any event we saw some action. One could not vote against it because it is of such fundamental importance. It is an issue which comes down to male dominance and control over females, and it is happening both here and abroad. That debate was a great example of the work undertaken by women Senators.

There are detractors who say the Seanad should be abolished, but having observed the great women here, I think it would be a travesty to get rid of a body that demonstrates the talents, ability and courage of women politicians who are willing to put forward their views on what are considered female issues. We have had debates on domestic violence, health and women's role in society, but this does not happen in the Lower House. It is interesting that Coakley and Gallagher commented that there is a reluctance to be over-identified with feminist issues among female Deputies and there is an unwillingness to be typecast as speaking for women. They said the few women Deputies in Parliament favour interest in socio-cultural policy concerns as a substitute for articulating a feminist view on wide-ranging policy issues. This is a pragmatic stance because as a visible minority in Parliament and in a political context where party discipline is strong, women Deputies have little option but to moderate their views to fit in with the masculinist culture and norms pervading Dáil business. This strong comment would seem to support the view there should be a Seanad, but it shows clearly that women Deputies are very reluctant to take on female issues to which we, as females, feel attracted. Is that part of the reason more women do not get involved? Is it a chicken and egg situation. Whatever it is, it is worth putting the question.

In our wider society there is a dearth of women in all decision-making or chief executive officer or boardroom positions. My profession of the law is an example. Currently, 60% of students in law schools and colleges are female, yet only 6% of the top partnerships in law firms are female and only 6% of those running their own practices are female. I am among that 6%. In the Seanad, some 20% of Senators are women, four of whom were appointed by the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, myself included. I thank him for including me. His nominations raised female participation in this Seanad. However, if we consider the position of chief executive officer, we only have one female chief executive officer of a publicly quoted company in Ireland. Some 21% of our judicial positions are female. This may be because they are appointed by politicians, who tend to seek female names to raise the quota of women. Therefore, in the upper echelons, an effort is being made to try to make things look better. However, I am not sure how helpful this is in the overall context of getting more women involved. As Senator Fitzgerald said, unless we have a critical mass - up to 30% involved - we will not see any change in respect of policy decisions and women's voices being heard in Parliament and Government. It is a serious situation.

Senator Bacik outlined in her report the five Cs that are recognised internationally as the reasons women do not get involved in politics, namely, child care, cash, confidence, culture and candidate selection procedures. If we asked all women involved in the political system, as Senator Bacik did, they would cite these reasons. However, I am not sure we can get into the nitty gritty of those reasons and find a solution for the future. In the context of child care, the Minister of State mentioned thecrèche,but as a young mother I am not sure it could help me with my child care issues. I have never seen myself as a stay-at-home person and whether in politics or otherwise, I see myself as being at work. Therefore, child care is something I would have to deal with in any event. It is not a massive impediment to work. The problem is after-hours child care, for example, at 8 p.m. when one must attend a meeting or at 7 p.m. when one must attend a funeral. It is when one must leave one's children in child care for 12 or 24 hours that is the problem.

The big question is how this fits in with getting involved in politics. This relates to the issue of buying pints, slapping people on the back, telling people they are great and spending half an hour in a pub listening to nonsense when one could be at home just getting on with dealing with the political realities. This is the side women do not find attractive. I can deal with the child care issue.

Comments

Catherine Mills
Posted on 31 May 2010 11:44 pm (Report this comment)

The HSE now advise victims of domestic violence not to leave their partners.

So, nothing has changed since 1995, when I was ordered to go home and obey the male, because it is a Catholic country and we women ought to know our place.

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