Joan Burton TD : New approach needed to deliver gernder parity in Dail

Issued : Tuesday 3 March, 2009

Deputy Party Leader Joan Burton believes we neew fresh thinking and action to deliver on increased women's political representation.

STATEMENT BY JOAN BURTON TD
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
At press conference to launch the Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill
Tuesday, 3 March, 2009

NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO DELIVER GENDER PARITY IN DAIL

More than 30 years of voluntary efforts to deliver something approaching parity between men and women in terms of Dail representation has not been successful and I believe that it now time to try a different approach along the lines suggested in this Bill.

Ireland's performance of 13% women TDs is well below the international average of 16% and is way behind the level of advanced countries like Sweden (47%).

A number of countries have taken legislative or constitutional measures to increase the level of participation by women, including Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia. In this case we should look to follow the example of countries in mainland Europe, rather than the U.K. or the United States.

Labour has done better than most parties in the Dail, with 35% of our TDs being female, but we also acknowledge that we have a lot more to do to achieve full parity.

We expect to see a significant increase in the number of women candidates contesting the local elections for us and we hope that this, in turn, will provide a new corps of potential women TDs for the next general election.

As part of that process I am leading a 'mentoring drive' for new women candidates. This involves existing women TDs and councillors mentoring new women candidates in the hope that they can draw on this experience and get elected themselves in due course.

Unfortunately the glass ceiling is all too real for a great many women trying to break into politics. The mentoring process is intended to help women shatter that ceiling.

Some of those opposed to attempts to increase the number of women public representatives say that you cannot force the electorate to vote for women. I accept that, but I also believe that the electorate is quite prepared to vote for women who are credible and effective candidates. The Labour Party has demonstrated this in the last two general elections.

The particularly innovative thing about this Bill is that it sets two separate targets for political parties either of which they must meet if they are not to suffer a financial penalty through a cut in the level of state funding. One requirement is that at least one fifth of the TDs are women, and this of course will depend on the electorate. However, the other threshold that can be met is that one fifth of the candidates at a general election must be women. The number of women candidates that are put forward is a matter that is totally within the control of the parties themselves.

I hope that at some stage soon attitudes will change and that parity will be achieved without having to rely on quotas or legislative measures. That is why this Bill has a 'sunset' clause which will cause the legislation to lapse after 21 years. However, until we begin to see some rapid progress this legislation offers the best way forward.

ENDS CONTACT JOAN BURTON @ 087-2369485

www.labour.ie/press