Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

Cuirim fáilte libh go léir, agus le mná na hÉireann go speisialta. I welcome the Minister, who spoke about this being groundbreaking legislation. It is groundbreaking, and it is great to be able to agree with that expression, as it is used insincerely sometimes. I welcome the former Senator, Mary Henry, and the former Minister, Ms Niamh Bhreathnach, to the House, and many in the Gallery have worked very hard, discussed the issues and made this day possible. It is a day in which politics in Ireland has changed.

I also welcome in the Bill the greater transparency for political funding and financing for political parties. Once upon a time I had the temerity to suggest that Charles Haughey had received donations from big business and that did not go down too well; it went down very badly, as I know to my own cost. Some 20 years later there is legislation to begin to change that culture of golden circles and the unhealthy relationship between business and politics, which I also welcome.

I will address my comments to the gender quota aspects of the Bill, and I am glad the quota applies to having more women on the ballot paper. That is not to say places will be reserved for women in the Houses and we are not telling people how to vote. We are giving people the option of having more women on the ballot paper. Voluntary quotas for parties were suggested by a former Minister of State, Mary Alexandra White, and they were not taken up. The Minister would not have brought forward this legislation if voluntary quotas had been taken up, as they were very successfully in Sweden. That country did not need legislation like this as quotas were met voluntarily.

Now is the time for us to embrace the legislation and we must grow up as a country. We want men and women to be represented equally because we are equal in terms of rights and population. We are mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. We are teachers, police officers, bank officials, managers and bosses, and we contribute everywhere in society, including in the home, schools, communities, hospitals and voluntary organisations. In the place where key decisions are made, we are somewhat absent. We are missing from the place where we should be the most, and we are missing in numbers where we could contribute, make an impact and bring about a difference.

As women, we operate differently and sometimes we have different priorities and approaches. We can also work differently, which is okay because it is the difference that matters. We want that difference in public and political life, in the Dáil, the Seanad, in Government and in the Cabinet. We need that difference because it will be effective. This difference - the inclusion of women - is not emerging through normal procedures, and we are not making progress. It could be 250 or 350 years before that happens, so we cannot afford to wait any longer. This is an urgent matter which goes to the core of who we are and how we look after ourselves, our country and our future. Whether it is believed or accepted, there is an invisible quota firmly in place, and it has always been supported and encouraged. Most importantly, it is pretty much expected that men would be in politics and have the power to make decisions. In part, that is because of what is reflected when we look around. Where I live in Sligo, one must go back to 1961, when Mary Reynolds, having been a Deputy for a very long time, lost her seat, for the last time there was female representation in the area. There has been no female Deputy or Senator in Sligo-Leitrim since then until now.

The status quo is what we have and what we are used to. It is what people know and what is comfortable. I know that people do not change banks easily, for example, and equally they do not change religion, politics or voting habits easily. This will be a long process but it is starting today. Voting for a woman may be difficult for some but there will be a choice. Some may find it impossible to vote for a woman but if there are not enough women to vote for, it will not happen anyway. We could see that as how it is and part of life. We should tell that to cancer patients whose lives have been made better by medical and scientific interventions or the many people who have been improved by all kinds of interventions.

We could talk about how important it is for more people to become involved and hope this will rub off on the public. When Mary Robinson became the first woman President of Ireland, that did not rub off. We could try instead to intervene and level the playing field, indicating that political parties must make an effort, change their attitude and help to change the status quo. They should welcome and support women. We must get women to make the effort, change their attitudes and break the status quo. Women are not entitled to be involved in politics but rather they are obliged to be involved. It is our country and we are all responsible. This legislation is only part of that process. When it comes down to it, this process will involve organisations like 50:50, of which I am proud to be a founding member of the north-west branch. It covers almost the entire nation and 50:50 has encouraged and supported debate, conversation and argument in this regard, which will go hand in hand with this legislation.

A new group, Women For Election, has received great funding from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland to do what many critics say is missing, such as running workshops, lecturing, offering training and mentoring to women interested in and who want to know about a life in politics. When the people involved were canvassing for the Lisbon treaty, they discovered many women genuinely interested in politics but who did not know how to get in. They felt excluded and thought that potential candidates might have to be part of a dynasty or know everything about politics. There was a realisation that some women just needed a bit of support.

Such movements will operate hand in hand with this brave and welcome legislation. Together, by women and for women and with the encouragement and support of men, this can work. I remind men that when more women move into the Houses of the Oireachtas, they will not be sitting on men's knees. Some men will have to move over or even out, which is okay as it is progress. Otherwise, we will not have in these Houses the kind of representation reflecting life outside on the streets. This will make a difference and as a woman, I see a 50-50 split as the only correct form of representation. I welcome this legislation as part of that jigsaw.