Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

That is correct. The Government has made its decision but in the last election, 86 or 15.19% of 566 candidates were women. Of the 166 Deputies returned, 25 or 15.01% were women. Senators will know where I am coming from. The proportion of men to women is approximately 50:50 but this has never been reflected in Dáil representation. In fairness to the Seanad, it has moved far ahead of the Dáil. The most recent figures indicate that there are marginally more females than males in the population. Prior to 2011, the level of representation among women in the Dáil did not exceed 14%. I am addressing the issues raised by Senators Power and Bacik. Women comprise one third of Senators and one half of Labour Party Senators. Since I was very young I have been on record as encouraging women to participate in politics because they have made a huge contribution. I started in Westmeath County Council with a former Minister and Leader of this House, Mary O'Rourke. It is as difficult to break through at local authority level as it is at Dáil level.