The shortage of women in Irish government is bad for democracy, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has said.
At the launch of the Progressive Democrats' women candidates' campaign for the local elections, Ms O'Donnell said she "would like to see the number of women elected to local government double on June 11th".
There was an almost 40 per cent increase in the number of women councillors elected to local authorities in 1991 compared with 1985, but the figure still stood at just 12 per cent of the total, she said.
It was vital that more women found their way into key decision-making positions in local authorities, she added. The Progressive Democrats are fielding 70 candidates in the local elections, of whom 25 are women.
They have 30 sitting councillors, of whom 15 are women.