'Urgent' need for more women TDs

URGENT ACTION must be taken to get more women into the Dáil, the National Women’s Council of Ireland said last night.

The call came after an announcement by Labour Party TD Liz McManus that she would not seek re-election to her seat in Wicklow. Fine Gael TD Olwyn Enright had announced earlier this week that she would not contest the next general election.

Only 14 per cent of Dáil deputies are women, making Ireland 88th in the world for female representatives at national parliament level. Women’s representation at national level has disimproved over the years. In 1990, the Dáil was 37th in the world.

Late last year, an Oireachtas committee recommended gender quotas or targets should be introduced to address the imbalance.

Research had shown that when women are given the opportunity to run for election, they have as good a chance as men of being elected.

The report also recommended the establishment of a national fundraising campaign dedicated to raising money from private donors to finance women’s electoral campaigns.

And it said State funding should be earmarked for women candidates until a certain target of representation is reached. But no steps have been taken to implement the report’s recommendations.

Susan McKay, chief executive of the council said other countries were attending to their democratic deficit. “In failing to do this, Ireland is looking more and more disreputable on the world stage,” she said.