Madam, – Senator Ivana Bacik’s proposals for a quota system for women in politics is extraordinary and makes little sense (November 11th). In particular the call for State funding for women candidates and penalties for parties which fail to nominate a sufficient number of women is bizarre. Imposed doctrinaire measures of this kind do nothing for the image of politics and simply reflect the failure of normal methods of persuasion and attraction. The political system needs to be made more attractive.
Besides, there is no guarantee that the women candidates chosen under this system will be of good quality. They are just as likely to attract opportunists and self-seekers as those with the desire to serve.
Our system of politics is in sore need of better reforms than these ill-thought-out measures. A number of proposals have been made, such as a reduction in the number of TDs, the extension of the Dáil year and the idea of a list system to improve the quality of candidates. We are well aware that our system of multi-seat constituencies favours the parish-pump type that spends all the time nurturing the area and none at formulating or proposing legislation: it works against the reformer and law-maker.
In a perceptive article (Opinion, November 7th), Dan O’Brien notes that our voting system is practised by only one other country, surely not a reassuring fact? He further observes that the practice whereby ministers are chosen only from the Oireachtas is highly unusual. Clearly it is time that these and other revelations were made more widely known and properly debated. – Yours, etc,