Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht seo agus déanaim comhghairdeas leis na Seanadóirí a bhí ar an chomhchoiste a chuir an tuairisc seo chun tosaigh. Déanaim comhghairdeas fosta leis an Aire Stáit.

Ceist thábhachtach é seo agus sinn ag plé cúrsaí ban agus an polaitíocht. Ní ceist fhurasta é seo le réiteach. Níl freagra amháin ar bith ach go leor freagraí amuigh ansin, go háirithe acu siúd atá páirteach sa pholaitíocht. Tá go leor daoine a bhfuil dearadh acu faoi seo. Ba mhaith le mo pháirtí níos mó ban a tharraingt isteach agus níos mó ban a bheith gníomhach sa pholaitíocht, sa Dáil agus sa Seanad, sa Chomhthionól agus ar fud na gcomhairlí san oileán.

This is a highly important debate, in which there is no easy solution. It is important that the issue of women in politics is placed in the context of our current position and the kind of state in which we are living. Members have heard Senator Norris refer to the provision in the Constitution that, at its core, suggests women should not even be working, let alone involved in the political arena. We need only refer to Article 41.2.1o of Bunreacht na hÉireann which states:

In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.

The State, shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.

That part of the article referring to a woman's duties in the home clearly shows we have not moved past the idea of women having a role as doting housewives and mothers who exist to cater for the every whim of their husband or partner and those of their children. We as a State need to ask ourselves why such blatantly gender biased articles remain in place in the 21st century and have remained in place up to now. This article and many parts of our Constitution need to be fundamentally reformed if we are to make any real change in the issue of gender equality and women's participation in society and politics in general. Language such as "man, in virtue of his rational being" etc is outdated; it is an embarrassment for men such as myself and it needs to be removed.

Great strides have been made and we as a country have come a long way in terms of achieving equality for women. Thankfully, this State and the religious orders that ran it for many years have ceased consigning women to a life of slave labour in Magdalene laundries. They have ceased carrying our horrific birth practices in maternity hospitals and prohibiting birth control. It could be argued that if more women were represented in the political institutions that these practices may never have been carried out in the past in our dark and murky history. However, huge inequalities still exist in this State. Huge gaps in pay exist between the genders, many health services for women are dire and there is a severe lack of child care provision. Women are grossly under-represented in decision making in local and national Government and on State boards. Even though we know women make up more than half the population and contribute more than their fair share to society both inside and outside the home, they are still frequently excluded from positions of power. Senator Bacik spoke about where Ireland ranks in this respect. It is appalling when one see it in writing that we are ranked lower than the EU average, the American average, the Asian average and rank on a par with sub-Saharan Africa. Ours is a shameful ranking on that list.

It was stated earlier that many women involved in politics got involved at national level generally because they come from political families or have some experience of electoral politics. The big issue at the heart of the lack of political representation of women is support. One of the barriers that has been mentioned is the issue of child care, which needs to be tackled head on. Addressing it is not as simple as the availability of child care services because we all know that involvement in politics is not a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. Such provision needs to be in place. Many women who would like to get involved in politics cannot do so because of the dire situation regarding the provision of child care, or even if child care services are available, there is the expense. Some 20% of average earnings in Ireland are spent on child care compared to 8% in other EU countries.

I am not sure if the issue of social class was mentioned but it is a key actor in influencing the type of person who goes forward for election. Social disadvantage and the lack of opportunities of further education all inhibit a woman's chance to become involved in politics. Other issues such as family unfriendly working hours also act as a barrier to women's participation in politics.

I do not understand why the Seanad does not address an issue in this respect. I remember speaking to Senator Bacik about this when she had her child and I had a young boy and another on the way. One has to wait until Thursday to find out if the Seanad is due to sit on Friday or on the following Tuesday or Wednesday. That situation should not exist. A young father or mother has to wait until he or she gets an email from the office of the Leader of the Seanad to let him or her know what days the Seanad will sit next week. The situation should not exist. There are simple ways we can do our work better that would not necessitate overhauling the whole system that could make subtle but serious changes that would enhance people's lives and make matters a little easier for them.

There are issues that need to be addressed and there are good examples of practice that we could follow. Countries such as Sweden and Denmark have made huge inroads in terms of the number of women political representatives they have. Both countries introduced quotas as a temporary mechanism to boost the number of women in parliament. Such mechanisms work well and can work well in this State.

Political parties without a doubt have probably the biggest role to play in this respect. Sinn Féin has introduced a 50:50 quota for election to its ard comhairle or national executive, which has been a practice for many years, and we also have a quota system in place for candidates. It has been beneficial to our party. Some people say they would not agree with this mechanism. I was reluctant to support the introduction of quotas. I represent Donegal South-West. Sinn Féin has seven elected representatives in that constituency. I along with six others represent that constituency for Sinn Féin at council, town council and Údarás na Gaeltachta level. Four of the representatives are female and three are male. Three of my female colleagues were first appointed to their boards through co-options either by me getting elected to the Seanad and a co-option being made or due to an unfortunate bereavement in the constituency. I am glad to say that of the three of those who were elected through co-options, two topped the poll with large surpluses when they went on to fight the elections. This shows that where one has an opportunity to encourage women into the electoral system through a co-option, they can excel in terms of their male counterparts when they stand on an equal platform in a future election, as in this instance when none of their male colleagues could catch them for love nor money by virtue of the talents they espoused. Therefore, I recommend a quota system.

While one may have a quota system within a party, as we do in Sinn Féin, the party may not always select a woman candidate to stand for the party or the party may not reach the quota it has set, which in the case of our party is 30%, but this system fixes in the minds of party activists and party managers that they have to be mindful of the issue of women's participation. I wanted to establish a Sinn Féin cumann or branch of our party in an area and I asked one of our female activists to draw up a list of supporters in that area. She gave me a list of 50 people and of those 50 people eight were men. The reality is that being a woman, she knew other women and had women friends and women will attract women. We need to give people the opportunity to become involved in politics.