Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said gender quotas for candidates in Dáil elections will rise to 40 per cent in the next decade.
Then minister for the environment Phil Hogan published the Electoral Amendment Political Funding Bill in 2011. That legislation stated State funding to parties would be halved unless 30 per cent of their candidates at the next general election were women, with the target due to rise to 40 per cent after seven years.
Mr Varadkar attended a reception in Dublin Castle on Friday evening which was held to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage in Ireland.
Attendees included Minister for Arts and Culture Josepha Madigan, co-leader of the Social Democrats Catherine Murphy, Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin, Labour Senator Ivana Bacik and former Fianna Fáil minister Mary O’Rourke.
Mr Varadkar noted that in the campaign to win equal rights for women 100 years ago, “many of the windows outside were smashed”.
“Tonight we are on the inside, looking out. And the question we have to ask ourselves is, what other windows need to be smashed.”
He said that women are still presented with glass ceilings and barriers to progress, noting that there is “further to go.”
“Over the past 100 years, I think of the decisions we made when we excluded women or didn’t listen to them, and I think of how we might have done things differently, better or not at all. As a society, we are weaker when we exclude women’s voices.”
He praised the “maturity” of the recent campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment, and pledged to take action in relation to the conduct of rape trials.
“This year we removed the Eighth Amendment from our Constitution, in a campaign that was notable for its maturity, and the way we listened to stories which had previously gone unheard.
“We have refined our laws in relation to consent with more work underway on the conduct of rape trials. We are not finished yet. In fact, we’re only starting.”
In the area of gender equality, Mr Varadkar pointed towards a review group which was established to promote gender balance on State boards.
“Last year 52 per cent of people appointed to State boards under the Public Appointments Service were female. We have already exceeded the 40 per cent overall target. Now I want us to aim for parity.”
In terms of gender quotas for candidates to Dáil elections, he said the figure currently stands at 30 per cent and will rise to 40 per cent in the next decade.
“Women make up over half our population, half our talent, half our expertise, they cannot continue to be our greatest untapped resource.
“Gender equality is needed so that we can have real freedom for women and men.
“We have to look to the next 100 years. The best commemorations are the ones that use the past to educate us about the present so we can work for a better future.
“Democracy mattered to Irish suffragettes. Democracy matters to us.”
