Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

Returning to an issue on which Senator Mooney touched in terms of the difficulty of getting women involved, particularly the double burden for women who are working hard at a career, be it politics or business, and also having a family, there is quite interesting work being done on that in the corporate field. McKinsey & Company conducted a study on women and men who had achieved considerable success in the corporate world and found that while both groups put their careers ahead of their families, the choice between professional success and work-life balance had far greater consequences for women, who had to pay a higher price for success than their male counterparts.

It is quite interesting to look at two statistics in that respect. McKinsey & Company found that 54% of the women surveyed - these were women who had done well in their professional careers - did not have children compared to only 29% of men. Almost twice as many of the women who had got ahead did not have children. In respect of men and women who were married, the survey found that 33% of women who were in top management positions were single compared to 18% of men. If one looks back at women who have made it through to the Dáil, one finds that many more of the female Ministers do not have children and that trend is in politics as well.

In fairness, in the business world smart corporations are increasingly starting to realise that diversity in the workforce is not only right from an egalitarian point of view, but that it also benefits the bottom line. I refer particularly to manufacturing and marketing companies which found that there is a strong correlation between gender diversity and economic benefits, attributed in part to the fact that the more closely a company reflects its market demographic, the more likely it is to understand its customers. If one has a marketing team half of which is made up of women, particularly if it is trying to sell products to women, it is more likely to understand how women will see its advertisements and view the company's products.

The same argument applies to politics. If one does not have a balance of people, if 85% of those who make decisions are male and only 15%, or one in seven, are female, then the perspective brought to debate is seriously lacking something. It has been particularly difficult, not only in Ireland but elsewhere, to encourage women with families to get involved in politics. Many of the decisions made, in this House and in the Lower House, affect people with families. That perspective should be fed in before the decisions are made and it is a great loss to politics and to public service in general that it is not heard. I agree with Senator Mooney that quotas are only one part of the solution. The electoral system is important in making sure that women get in but a broader debate must also be had about whether the parliamentary system is family friendly. Change will only come about when there is a critical mass. Other countries' success in increasing female participation came about as the result of significant numbers of women, rather than two or three, pushing for change. The only way to reach that critical mass is through candidate quotas and changing the electoral system to provide greater opportunities in larger constituencies. I hope Members will support my party's amendments.