Aideen Hayden (Labour)

In response to Senator Paul Bradford, we all agree that there are other barriers to women's participation in politics. The excellent document furnished to us by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service also set out the ways by which these barriers could be addressed. However, what we are talking about is the funding of political parties, not the other barriers women face in terms of their participation in political life.

Senator Ivana Bacik is correct. Any student of Irish politics from 1922 onwards would be able to tell us categorically that political parties is where it is at. I agree that Senators such as Senator David Norris are excellent and have made excellent contributions, but the fact of the matter is that most of the legislation placed before the Government, the Upper House and the Lower House is presented by political parties and that if one wants to influence what happens in the country, one has to do so through a political party.

I want to address the issue of a sunset clause. We cannot always assume society is on an upward trajectory. I refer to a recent "Newsnight" programme on female genital mutilation in Egypt on which a number of those interviewed stated they were concerned that the change in party representation in Egypt was leading to a position where there would be a rowing back on the commitment to guard against female genital mutilation. The reality is that having sunset clauses is all very fine, but I agree with Senator Fiach Mac Conghail and I would draw the attention of Senator Rónán Mullen's to this were he present in the House. A sunset clause would protect the participation of both men and women, to which Senator John Crown alluded. There are certain professions that one could describe has having been feminised; however, it is not in the interests of society to have one sex over-represented, whether it be male or female. No more than I do want to see the political profession dominated by women, I do not want to see the teaching and medical professions dominated by women also. I am not in favour, therefore, of having a sunset clause. In an ideal world we would end up with 50:50 representation. There is nothing to stop us revisiting legislation in the future, but we should not commit ourselves to introducing a sunset clause, as it would not be in our interests to do so. Unfortunately, the evidence is all too clear that we are not on an upward trajectory.