MOST WOMEN TDs do not want political parties to be required to adopt gender quotas in their candidate selection process.
The Irish Timesspoke to all 23 women Dáil deputies. Fourteen are against and eight are for a proposal that candidate quota legislation be introduced in an attempt to bring more women into politics. One TD is undecided on the issue.
Among women serving at Cabinet level, there is no support for the recommendation in a report produced for the Oireachtas justice committee by Labour Senator Ivana Bacik last year.
Tánaiste and Minister for Education Mary Coughlan, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin, both of Fianna Fáil, and Independent Minister for Health Mary Harney oppose the idea.
Green Party Minister of State for Equality Mary White and Fianna Fáil Minister of State for Older People Áine Brady also disagree with the proposal. So do Fianna Fáil backbenchers Mary O’Rourke, Mary Wallace and Máire Hoctor.
Fine Gael deputies Lucinda Creighton and Olwyn Enright are against the suggested measure, as are Labour’s Joanna Tuffy, Róisín Shortall and Mary Upton. Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan described such quotas as “insulting to women”.
In favour of the proposal, to varying degrees, are Fianna Fáil TDs Beverley Flynn and Margaret Conlon, as well as Fine Gael deputies Deirdre Clune and Olivia Mitchell, who described herself as “a very reluctant yes”.
Labour TDs Joan Burton, Liz McManus, Kathleen Lynch and Jan O’Sullivan also backed the idea. Fine Gael’s Catherine Byrne said she could not decide.
Ms Coughlan would like to see more women in politics and they should be elected “according to their ability”, her spokesman said.
Ms Hanafin said: “I do not think that quotas are a good idea nor do they necessarily work.”
However, she said parties should have “targets” to ensure a “good mix of female and male candidates” were put forward for election.
Ms Harney, in common with many women TDs, is instinctively opposed to quotas but not happy with the current level of female representation. “We need to examine innovative ways of getting women into politics. Over the last 30 years there hasn’t been much improvement. Where we are is very disappointing.”
Ms White said she was seeking a “cross-party solution” to “push forward” women’s participation in politics. “Getting on the ticket is the first step. I got in myself without a quota or target and I’m very proud of that achievement.
“It took me a long time to get there,” she said.
“Personally I’m not sure quotas are the way forward. Many people say to me, if a woman gets elected under a quota system does it diminish that person? That’s the last thing we want.”
