Political parties have not done enough to ensure that women candidates are selected for elections, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore has said.
Speaking at the launch of the Labour Party Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill this morning, Mr Gilmore said it is now time to "ensure that there is a real economic incentive for political parties to nominate women and ensure that they are elected".
The key provision in the Bill is to provide that payments from the state to political parties will be reduced if the parties fail to ensure a move towards gender parity in terms of candidates selected to contest Dáil elections.
Labour's deputy leader Joan Burton said Ireland’s performance of 13 per cent women TDs was well below the international average of 16 per cent and "way behind the level of advanced countries like Sweden (47 per cent)".
Ms Burton said she hoped that attitudes would change and that parity would 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," she said. "However, until we begin to see some rapid progress this legislation offers the best way forward."