Sir, – In an article by Mary Minihan (Home News, March 9th), Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton describes as “disappointingly low” the number of women TDs and Senators in the Oireachtas. The underlying premise of Ms Burton’s argument is that women are a homogenous group with common social and economic interests. This is far from the reality.
There are of course, universal interests all women share, irrespective of their social class or nationality. However, what do relatively well-heeled women like Ms Burton, or indeed the great majority of women in the Dáil or Senate have in common with working class women in Ballyfermot or Crumlin? Very little, we would argue. Very few women, if any, from working-class backgrounds would be beneficiaries of this proposal.
Women of Ms Burton’s social class are very well represented in the Dáil, by male politicians from their own social milieu. Having a great proportion of privileged women in the houses of parliament will not necessarily change anything – other than affording them access to the lucrative gravy train of salaries and expenses, currently reserved for their male colleagues.
Ms Burton’s attacks on the social welfare benefits for the poorest in our society, men and women, potently demonstrates the cosmetic nature of this proposal. – Yours, etc,