AT the present rate of progress, it will take 500 years for women to reach equality with men in positions of power in Irish political life, the chairwoman of the Women's Political Association has told a gathering of women election candidates.
Ms Vonnie Roche said 86 per cent of the Dail's deputies were men. However, with a record number of more than 50 women running for seats, the electorate could this time return a government "in equilibrium with the people".
She called on the Irish people to "recognise the need for gender equality in government". She said elected women representatives "bring with them a new outlook on national developments. Women put human values back into decision making as a fundamental criterion".
The event was opened by Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, who said the absence of support facilities for women politicians meant that Ireland was way behind some Scandinavian parliaments, and even the European Parliament, which has 20 per cent women's representation.
She had heard that in the Meath constituency there were 14 men standing and only two women. She looked forward to the day when the balance would be the other way around.
The chairwoman of the Oireachtas women's rights committee, Ms Mary Wallace of Fianna Fail, said she was asked continuously; on the doorsteps "what is Dail Eireann doing for women in the home".
She said women in her Meath constituency thought Fianna Fail's proposal for a £2,000 allowance for women who were full time carers in the home was "a brilliant idea".
Ms Frances Fitzgerald of Fine Gael said sometimes the public forgot how few women deputies there were in the Dail, because the 23 who are there are so visible.
She said Ireland was "a half democracy at the moment", with politics continuing to be dominated by male decisionmakers. All but two members of the Cabinet were men, as were all the chairpersons of the Oireachtas committees, with the exception of the women's rights committee.
Ms Helen Keogh, the Progressive Democrats' equality spokeswoman, who is a former WPA president, said 45 per cent of PD candidates were women, the highest proportion of any party.
Minister of State Ms Joan Burton said 25 per cent of Labour's candidates were women. She said that whereas eight years ago, Labour's parliamentary party had no women members, it now had nine, including its one MEP.
Ms Linda Kavanagh, of the Workers' Party, standing in Dublin Central, said the most disadvantaged group in Irish society were those women "battered and abused" by their husbands and male partners.
She said such women were meant to be "the core of the family", yet when they suffered domestic violence they are not able to give "their best to their children".
One of the youngest candidates, Ms Joanne Harmon (26), said she was opposed to the Constitution Review Group's proposal for quotas for women in the Seanad. "Women are not looking for any special treatment. Positive discrimination is paying lip service to women's participation in public life."