David Norris (Independent)

Is it? This is the figure I got from one of the reports so presumably it has been changed.

That helpful interruption came from Senator Bacik and we are largely here today because of her initiatives. It was she who proposed the investigation by the committee of the role of women in politics and it was her who secured the services not only of former and present distinguished women politicians but also of Professor Yvonne Galligan, who made a series of extraordinarily important recommendations.

I was challenged on my percentages but I will turn to an official document on which I will not be challenged, even though it makes for grim reading. It concerns representation within the European Parliament. Finland is the best with 61.5%, while Ireland is a shameful 22nd, with a mere 25%. That will surprise people because we think we are a forward looking, progressive country.

It is even worse looking at global classifications. The country in first place is Rwanda, where there is almost a women's government. It is very exciting, although it is tragic in its origin, which was partly that so many of the men were wiped out. Of the parliamentary representatives, 56.3% are women and the majority of cabinet ministers are female. I think we should watch this space because, please God, they will add some ordinary decent common sense. Globally, however, we are number 85, bracketed with Cameroon. What a distinction.

I support quotas for women because I genuinely believe they have a different angle on life. I have practical experience of this. I pushed for many years for reform of the criminal penalties for male homosexuals. No one would touch it. Albert Reynolds fled from it. It was judged to be a major transgression of human rights but Albert said it was not one of his priorities. There was then the awful possibility that Raphael Burke might be entrusted with this delicate and sensitive legislation but, thank God, he did not take it up and it was left to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. A woman did it because she had more integrity and more moral courage than any of the men who were all terrified of the issues.

As an aside, if people think it is bad being a woman, they should try being gay in politics. It can be quite fun but it is also a bit of a risk. It is extraordinary, 51% of the population are women but only 20% of Members are female, a tiny proportion, while 10% of the population is gay but for a long time I was the only gay in the village. I am not any longer, there is another one here, openly gay and an excellent contributor. Apparently, however, there are none at all in the Dáil. Is that not astonishing? That is one of the reasons I respond so strongly to these issues, because I have been there, sisters.

The task policy development committee report gave me the information that 17% of Members were female.