Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

The PR-STV system presents more difficulties for the election of women because of the small number of seats in each constituency. This is borne out by the fact that there is a tendency for there to be higher levels of female candidates in the larger constituencies. Women accounted for 13.8% of the candidates in three seat constituencies, 15.4% in four seat constituencies and 16.2% in five seat constituencies in the 2011 general election.

I thank Ms Fiona Buckley, UCC, Ms Claire McGing and those involved with women for politics in the Visitors' Gallery for all the research done on this issue for every party in this House and for all the documents we have read on this subject in recent years, and I commend all the groups that have been recently set up.

Parties must encourage local level selection conventions to select women candidates as this may not be done on a voluntary basis, as we know given that we have to introduce quotas. Preferably women should not have to be added as additional candidates simply for the sake of meeting quotas, as this may mean they may not have the support of the party organisation and may not have adequate support through an election campaign to win. We do not want it said after an election that women were given a chance but they fouled it up.

We all know the benefit of the party grassroots canvassing on the ground to aid or hinder the success of a candidate be it a male or female candidate. There is an onus on all central party organisers to raise awareness among candidate selection committees locally and to engage in the exercise of actively seeking women candidates from existing members of the party or community. The way the organisation of committees and parties run selection conventions, the timing of them and the transparency of what funding or assistance might be available to candidates with little or no means stops many potential male and female candidates putting themselves forward.

Although gender quotas at national level are welcome, I suggest that the Government should consider implementing them at local level. I know the Minister spoke about that and why he could not do it at this stage. Local government is where politicians cut their teeth and if representatives do not have a significant local profile, they will not get it at national level. There is no direct funding mechanism attached to local elections, and rightly so.