The National Women's Council has congratulated the 20 women elected to the 28th Dail, but expressed disappointment that this figure did not increase, following the momentum of the last election.
The NWC chairwoman, Ms Noreen Byrne, said that the outcome reflected the need for more women candidates from the larger parties.
Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour ran women candidates in only one third of the constituencies, while the two larger parties had two or more candidates in each of them, Ms Byrne said.
Meanwhile, an NWC survey of the political parties showed a broad consensus on issues of concern to women.
All of them said they were committed to measures to combat violence against women. However, none but Democratic Left indicated the level of resources which it was prepared to make available to implement their proposals.