Sir, – There were 566 candidates fielded in the last general election. Only 86 were women. The average success rate for both men and women in that election was the same: 29 per cent, which would indicate that there is no bias against female candidates among the Irish electorate.
The candidate selection processes of political parties have been identified as posing a significant obstacle to the political participation of women (due to a prevailing masculine culture, perhaps?). In Fine Gael for example, 42 per cent of the membership is female yet only 15 per cent of candidates fielded in election 2011 were women.
It is now time that political parties field candidates who are reflective of the electorate they will represent. Our public representatives exist to represent the people. Women make up 50 per cent of the population but have never made up more than 14 per cent of TDs.
It may take decades before all social, cultural and political barriers preventing equal representation of women are tackled. Quotas can “kick-start” the process of getting more women elected to the Dáil.
As Garret FitzGerald said, “Our party system, lacking significant female input, is bound to be incomplete and defective”. – Yours, etc,