Labour seeks quotas on female candidates

THE “old boys’ club” culture in Leinster House must be challenged, according to the Labour Party, which proposed laws to cut funding from parties that do not put enough women candidates forward for election.

Deputy leader of the party, Joan Burton, described Leinster House as “a bit of a men’s club” and said more than 30 years of voluntary efforts to deliver parity between the sexes has not worked. Labour’s spokesman on local government, Ciarán Lynch, put forward the bill in the Dáil last night which would provide that payments from the state to political parties will be reduced if the parties fail to ensure an equal representation of men and women among election candidates.

Mr Lynch echoed Ms Burton and said the Dáil is “an old boys club” and that “time for hoping for the best is long gone”.