Labour Bill would lead to huge boost for participation of women in politics

Issued : Tuesday 3 March, 2009

Party Leader Eamon Gilmore spoke at the launch of Labour's Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill 2009 to mark the International Women's Day.

STATEMENT BY EAMON GILMORE TD
Leader of the Labour Party
At Launch of Labour Party Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill
Tuesday, 3 March, 2009
NOT FOR USE BEFORE 11.00AM

LABOUR BILL WOULD LEAD TO HUGE BOOST FOR PARTICIPATON OF WOMEN IN POLITICS

I am very pleased to be here today at the launch of this important Private Members Bill, the Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill. The first stage of the Bill will moved in the Dail later today by my colleague, Deputy Ciaran Lynch, who will deal in more detail with the Bill when he speaks to you.

It is now over 30 years since what might be called the campaign for gender equality began. It might surprise some of our younger citizens to learn the extent to which women were treated as second class citizens right up to the 1970s. Until that time, for instance, women in the civil service were required to resign on marriage and women could not automatically serve on juries.

Significant progress has been made in the past three decades. Most of the direct discrimination against women has been removed from the statute book. We have full equality in terms of entitlement to social welfare payments. And it was a Labour Party Minister who, in the 1970s, introduced the principle of equal pay for equal work - although in practice the earnings of women still lag significantly behind those of men.

Over those three decades there has also been some progress in increasing the level of involvement by women in politics in general and at local authority and Dail level, but again the rate of progress has been far too slow. For instance in the general election of 1973, there were just four women (3%) elected (out of a then total membership of 140). By the 2007 election this had gone up to 22.

The Labour Party is particularly proud of the level of involvement of women in our ranks and we have produced some of the most capable women public representatives in the history of the state.

It took over 30 years from the foundation of the state to have our Labour woman TD elected - Maureen O'Caroll, who was appointed Labour Party Whip and also somehow managed to find time to have ten children.

In 1981 Eileen Desmond became the first Labour Party Minister, when she became Minister for Health and Social Welfare, a position which she served with great distinction (with a short gap in 1982) up to 1987.

And of course it was the successful Labour Party campaign for Mary Robinson in 1990 gave us our first woman President.

Women continue to make a major contribution to the Labour Party, with seven of our current 20 TDs being female.

Thirty five per cent of Labour TDs are women, but we cannot be satisfied with the overall situation in the Dail where just 13.25% are female. This is one of the lowest levels of representation in Europe. Indeed a survey of the level of representation in the lower houses of the national parliament in 30 EU member states and accession countries puts Ireland in an embarrassing 25th place.

Political parties in general have not done enough to ensure that women candidates are selected and that women candidates are elected. Voluntary codes and targets have not worked and it is now time to put the pressure on and ensure that there is a real economic incentive for political parties to nominate women and ensure that they are elected.

The key provision in the Bill is to provide that payments from the state to political parties will be reduced if the parties fail to ensure, through their own internal electoral and selection procedures, a move towards gender parity in terms of candidates selected to contest Dail elections.

If this Bill is enacted - -and I hope that the other parties in the Dail will support it - it would deliver a huge boost for the participation of women in politics; provide a real incentive for the political parties to give this issue the priority it deserves; and put Ireland on a parity with the most successful countries in Europe such as Sweden and Finland.

ENDS CONTACT LABOUR PARTY PRESS OFFICE @ 01-6183462