Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am on Senator Moran's and Senator Bacik's side on this issue. However, Senator Power's point is well made and we should not just gloss over it. Notwithstanding the import of the Government amendment and what the Minister is attempting to do, which I fully support, has any thought been given to how this might pan out on the ground? Sadly, as has been said by Senator Power, there is a severe under-representation of women in some local authorities. Let us be politically practical about this. The dominant party or grouping that is in power shares out the spoils. I wish there was more power sharing at local level, and in some instances there is, but there generally is not, to be blunt. It is still winner takes all. I do not ascribe that to any single party, it is just the reality. Some will say that this is democracy and I may get used to it, but it is not really.

If the dominant group or party in a local authority has an under-representation of women, this provision forces the woman into a situation where the party will say she must sit on the board in order to comply with the legislation. The woman might say she does not want to sit on the board but the party will tell her that she must. There is no flexibility in this at all. Once this Bill is enacted into law, local authorities will have no choice. They will have to implement it. There will be no give or take, no transition period and no flexibility. That is my main concern about it.