Ivana Bacik (Independent)

The Minister must be blushing with all these tributes. The Bill is to be welcomed for two major achievements. First is its achievement in tackling corruption and ensuring greater transparency. The Standards in Public Office Commission has just released its tenth annual report, which pointed out that the last Eurobarometer poll showed that 86% of people here thought that corruption was still a major problem in Irish politics and I hope the Bill will go a long way in tackling that.

Of course it will also be remembered for what will now be Part 6 of the Bill on State funding of political parties and gender balance. The provisions in sections 28 to 30, inclusive, will require political parties to adopt a quota of having at least 30% of candidates of each gender in the next general election. We had a very good debate on the matter on Second Stage and on Committee Stage. Undoubtedly there will be a seismic shift - to use that rather overused phrase - given that in last year's general election only 15% of candidates were women. We will immediately see a doubling of the number of candidates which will undoubtedly see an increase in the numbers of women ultimately elected. This sort of legislation was a key recommendation of the report I authored for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights in 2009 on women's participation in politics. At the time it seemed a very radical proposal but now it seems a rather modest proposal with nearly everyone in support of it.

The strongly evidence-based case for it is unanswerable and we have won the arguments not just in this Chamber or the Dáil but throughout Ireland. Certain people and organisations have been significant in helping, including the 50:50 by 2020 campaign in women for election and also within the Labour Party, Labour women, representatives of whom are in the Gallery, including a past and current chair of Labour women. With all the grassroots groups and with key women such as Professor Yvonne Galligan, Ms Gemma Hussey, Councillor Niamh Bhreathnach and others we have really seen a shift in public opinion on this, which will make the Bill effective in terms of its practical implementation in the political parties. The argument has been won and people see the need for more women to enter politics. This is the most effective way to ensure that is done. Part 6 of the Bill is truly memorable and it is an historic day to see it go through the Seanad.