Phil Prendergast (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe. I also welcome the chair of the National Women's Council of Ireland and the representatives of the Irish Women Lawyers Association who are in the Gallery.

As a former member of a 26-seat county council - I was one of two females who served on that body at the time - I am only too well aware that women are underrepresented at local government level. As someone who worked as a midwife in the health service for over 20 years, I am well aware of the anti-social nature of that job. Politics is also an anti-social profession and, in that context, I often feel I am missing a wife.

This debate is truly historic. It is the first occasion on which the issue of women's participation in politics has ever been placed on the agenda of either House of the Oireachtas. I welcome the fact we are debating the report on women's participation in politics which was published by the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights in October 2009 and which was authored by my esteemed colleague, Senator Bacik. I am glad its emergence led to the holding of this debate in the House.

The context for this debate is important. It has been suggested the Celtic tiger was really a Celtic tigress, particularly in light of the fact that the increased numbers of women in the labour force during the boom years played such an important role in generating increased wealth for everyone. Despite this increase in numbers, women in the workplace continued to be restricted by the existence of glass ceilings and also continued to bear the largest share of domestic and child care responsibilities. That is why I referred earlier to my needing a wife. Serious discrimination remains in the workplace in respect of unequal pay and the lack of child care facilities. However, despite these obstacles, the numbers of women in paid work increased dramatically during the 1990s and early 2000s. In contrast, the number of women in the Dáil fell. Further action must be taken to encourage more women to enter politics.

We can work with our current electoral system in this regard and there would not be a need to change from our proportional representation-single transferable vote, PR-STV, system in order to increase the number of women elected to councils or to the Oireachtas. What we need to do is address existing and highly restrictive candidate selection procedures operated by all of the political parties which prevent women from becoming candidates. The key reform required to address this is the establishment of a legislative quota system that would require all political parties to select a certain minimum proportion of candidates of each gender. Without such a system, political parties will not alter their procedures voluntarily.

All of the parties represented on the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights supported the recommendation relating to legislative quotas. Like all the members of that committee, I wish to express my support for quotas. It is, however, important to emphasise, as Senator O'Toole did, the type of quota model recommended in Senator Bacik's report. The model in question relates to a very limited "opportunity quota". The word "quota" sometimes conjures an image of reserved seats, with a quota of seats in a parliament being reserved for women. This is not what the joint committee of which Senator Bacik is a member recommended, although it is the model used in some countries, such as Rwanda where 56% of representatives in parliament are women. We do not advocate this model, partly because it would give rise to difficulties under European law. We are suggesting a much more limited form of quota, namely an opportunity rather than an outcome quota.

An opportunity quota merely requires that political parties put forward a minimum number of candidates of each gender. This system is operated in Belgium, where no more than two thirds of candidates can be of one gender, thereby placing a cap on the number of men a party may select. This does not restrict voter choice but it would increase the number of female candidates available for election. A quota does not make an imposition on voters, it simply recognises the reality of the political parties as the gatekeepers in the context of deciding who should go forward to face the electorate. These gatekeepers must be subjected to certain rules in respect of the number of candidates they select. Legislation to deal with this matter must be introduced as a matter or urgency. The Minister of State takes great interest in debates of this nature and listens to what is being said. That face is very much appreciated.

On International Women's Day, 8 March 2009, the Labour Party's leader, Deputy Gilmore, introduced a Private Member's Bill, the Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill 2009, which would have required political parties to select a minimum number of women candidates. This Bill or a version of it is essential to ensure change. Experience elsewhere shows that unless some legislative quota is introduced, the position will not change. The level of female representation in the Dáil has remained stuck at between 13% and 14% for a long period. The position in the Seanad, where the figure stands at 22% - 13 females out of a total of 60 Members - is better. However, the ranking on which we are measured is based on lower or, where the system is not bicameral in nature, single houses of parliament.

The measures put forward by the joint committee should apply not only in respect of Dáil elections but also to Seanad, local and European elections. Female representation in Europe fell from 38% to 25% following the most recent election. A system of financial penalties based on the French model should be imposed in the legislation, which should have an in-built sunset clause which would lapse once targets were met. The latter is an extremely reasonable proposal.

When contributing to this debate, Senator Bacik put forward a concrete plan of action for the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Alexandra White, to adopt on foot of the joint committee's report. I support the Senator in asking the Minister of State to commit to taking certain actions. First, I ask her to propose a timeline in respect of adopting the legislation to which I refer. We are aware that such legislation has worked in other European countries, particularly Belgium and Spain, where the rate of representation, which in 1990 was more or less equal to that which obtained here, has increased to such an extent that these nations are now ranked 12th and 13th in the world, respectively.

My second request is that the Minister of State should convene a meeting of the general secretaries of all political parties. This meeting could be facilitated by the National Women's Council and at it the recommendations contained in Senator Bacik's report, many of which are aimed at them, could be put to the general secretaries. The Minister of State could ask that they revert to her within two or three months in order that a further meeting to determine what progress has been made could be held.

The Oireachtas crèche is a useful facility and has great symbolic importance. However, it may be more useful to city-based parliamentarians.

I wish to request that the photograph taken at the Oireachtas women's event held in December 2008 be displayed in Leinster House. It was very telling that on the occasion of Countess Markievicz's 90th anniversary and as a result of a special allowance made by the then Ceann Comhairle, Deputy O'Donoghue, we were allowed to hold an event relating to women in the Dáil Chamber. That was very much appreciated and the occasion in question incorporated a really historic element.

We often talk about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and what a wonderful dancer he was but it must be remembered she did everything he did but she did it backwards and in high heels.