Women TDs opposed to quota criticised

THE NATIONAL Women’s Council has sharply criticised women TDs who oppose gender quotas to increase the number of women selected as election candidates.

Chief executive of the council Susan McKay said: "This 'I'm alright Jill' attitude shows a sad lack of solidarity with other women." Her comments follow a survey by The Irish Timesof the 23 women in the 166-seat Dáil which found a majority opposed quotas to increase women's representation. Fourteen, including all three women in Cabinet positions, are against quotas while eight are in favour of candidate quota legislation. One TD is undecided.

Ms McKay said, “All of the main Irish political parties have been ruthlessly discriminating against women since the foundation of the State. We do not have a full democracy while half the population is excluded.”

Minister of State for Equality Mary White, who is against quotas, said many people had asked her if a woman got elected through a quota system “does it diminish that person? That’s the last thing we want.”

Ms McKay expressed surprise and disappointment at the Minister’s remarks. “All over the world they have been used to correct the undemocratic exclusion of women. Is she seriously telling women who are politicians in Denmark, Rwanda and Spain, for example, that they are lesser political beings than she is?”

The council chief executive added: “We need more women in Irish politics, and no one has come up with any credible alternatives to quotas backed by other measures.”

Quotas are not discriminatory, she said. “They are about dealing with historic discrimination.”

Four of the seven Labour women TDs are in favour of quotas. Labour Women, the grouping representing all female party members, also supports them. Labour Women chair Katherine Dunne described quotas as a measure to make the Dáil more representative.

“The women TDs who oppose quotas lament the lack of women in politics but do not seem to be able to suggest what exactly to do about it,” she said. Gender quotas were not about “token women” candidates not up to the job.

“Rather they would ensure that all parties make the effort to seek out talented women and put the supports in place to get them elected,” she added.

Ms Dunne said “a common argument against quotas is that they are undemocratic and work against meritocracy, whereby the best candidates get selected.

“A system in which 50 per cent of the population is represented by 13 per cent of TDs represents a much greater affront to democracy and fails to deliver the critical mass of women legislators required for true progress. Candidates are frequently selected for reasons other than merit, such as family connections or being favoured by the incumbent TD.”

Six of Fianna Fáil’s eight TDs are against quotas and two support them. Fianna Fáil Senator Mary White is “unequivocally in favour of quotas”. She described Leinster House as a “men’s club” that was “stuck in a groove” and said “there’s a democratic deficit that half the population are women and they are not represented”.

Two of Fine Gael’s five women TDs are in favour of quotas and two oppose them, with one undecided. Laois-Offaly TD Olwyn Enright said they would not work on their own. A political party might stick to the letter of the law on quotas for candidates but still favour male candidates by putting them in winnable areas, she said.