Women’s Leadership in Political & Public Life - Ireland Women in Leadership Conference EU Parliament Office, Dublin Mon 6 th July 2015 Ivana Bacik, Seanad Eireann

Oireachtas Women

Men = 84% of Irish TDs Women constitute half the Irish population, yet the percentage of women TDs has never exceeded 16 per cent. There are now 27 women out of 166 TDs (16.2%). In 1990, when Mary Robinson became Ireland’s first female President, Ireland was in 37th position in the world classification of women’s representation in the lower or single house of national parliaments. Ireland is currently ranked 94 th in the world classification table for women’s representation in parliament, (based on 26 women out of 166 TDs %); between Azerbaijan and Chile ( The figure for the Seanad is 18 out of 60 (30%). The European average figure for women’s representation in the lower or single house of parliament is 25 per cent. In Nordic countries, the average figure is 42 per cent.

Represented in another way, the Dail has one of the highest proportions of male politicians in any national parliament in the world. The Dail has always been at least 84% male. Figure 2: Percentage of Men in Select National Parliaments Worldwide Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (

Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Law Reform and Women's Rights April Sub-committee on women's participation in politics established Rapporteur - Ivana Bacik Two public hearings: Prof Yvonne Galligan; three women former Ministers Report published October unanimous support for findings and recommendations

Reasons for Increasing Women’s Political Representation  A more Representative Democracy Balanced participation by women and men in political decision-making leads to more truly representative and effective democracies; and better and more efficient policy making.  Public Support In the Irish National Election Study of 2007, two-thirds of the public said that they wanted to see more women in politics. To see the results, go to:  Increased Choice for Voters In the 2007 General Election, women constituted less than 20% of candidates overall. In 5 constituencies there were no women candidates.  International Obligations Council of Europe; European Commission’s Roadmap to Equality ; Beijing Platform for Action; UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – temporary special measures.

Our Report describes The “Five C”s: International research shows that the same or similar challenges face women’s entry into politics throughout the world, summarised as follows:  Childcare – women are more likely to have this responsibility  Cash – women have less access to resources than men  Confidence – women are less likely to go forward for selection  Culture – a gendered culture is prevalent even within left-wing parties  Candidate selection procedures – the processes by which political parties select candidates has been identified as posing a significant obstacle to women’s political participation

Types of Initiatives Adopted in Other Countries  Awareness Raising Campaigns – For example : Iceland 1999 (See next slide)  Supports: –Mentoring –Training –Networking

Icelandic Poster Campaign

Positive Action  Mandatory Outcome Measures Example: Reserved seat measures taken in some African, Asian, and Middle-Eastern Countries.  Voluntary Targets Examples: Sweden (45%; 5 th in the world) – sustained voluntary commitment from political parties - successful in Scandinavian countries in particular  Statutory Opportunity Measures Examples: France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain. Particularly successful in Europe and Latin America.

Case Study: Belgium Smet-Tobback Law (1994) It is useful to compare Belgium and Ireland in terms of changes in women’s participation. In 1995, Belgium was in 34th position in the world table of women’s representation in parliament with 12.7% women. At that time, Ireland was very close to the Belgian position, ranked at 37th place with women constituting 12% of Dáil Deputies. In 1994, the “Smet-Tobback law” was introduced in Belgium, aimed at increasing the proportion of women candidates at all political levels; communal (local), European Parliament, federal and regional elections. This law stipulated that no electoral lists would comprise more then two- thirds of candidates of the same sex. Belgium now has 39% women in parliament, and is ranked 14 th in the IPU world tables of women’s representation.

Case Study: Belgium Smet-Tobback Law (1994) Percentage of Women in Parliament: Ireland and Belgium compared. Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union ( reviewed on 14 th September

Oireachtas Sub-Committee Report: Recommended that legislation should be introduced to set an upper limit on proportion of candidates of any one gender (modelled on Belgian law) Also a further set of recommendations aimed at the first 4 ‘C’s Further Recommendations: civic education programmes; financial supports; facilitation of childcare and family responsibilities; a data bank; mentoring and training programmes; recruitment drives; support for women’s networks.

Following our Report…. Extensive lobbying, NGOs established: –Women for Election; 50:50 by 2020 Govt commitment: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012, Section 42: –Payments.. shall be reduced by 50 per cent, unless at least 30 per cent of the candidates..at the preceding general election were women and at least 30 per cent were men. –Rises to 40 per cent minimum after 7 years. – Significant change at next election?

Oireachtas Women