When an attempt was made to find women to go into politics the number willing to do so melted away, which was disappointing, the Minister for Environment and Local Government, Mr Cullen said.
He saw a real opportunity with the ending of the dual mandate to get many more women into public life as county councillors were replaced.
"That would be a good thing, in terms of the diversity of views, roles and knowledge it would bring," he said.
Ms Mary White (FF) said the Oireachtas was "a man's club". She said the Minister should appoint consultants to study why women were not going forward.
Ms Kathleen O'Meara (Lab) said it would be interesting to see if women members of the Oireachtas vacating their council seats would be replaced by women councillors.