33% of candidates for Dáil to be women

Women are expected to make up at least one third of candidates from each political party in the next general election, under a bill passed through the Seanad yesterday which will proceed to the Dáil for a vote.

The long-awaited gender-quota legislation was met with applause by some senators when it passed by 37 votes to eight.

Fianna Fáil voting against it. However, the party clarified last night it remained committed to addressing gender imbalances and would adhere to the quota when it was introduced.

It said the reason it voted against the Electoral Amendment (Political Funding) Bill was because other elements of it, including limits on corporate donations, did not go far enough.

The party had called for a ban on corporate donations as promised by Fine Gael before the election. But the bill, which addressed a number of funding issues, stopped short of this.

There was some confusion about Fianna Fáil’s position on gender quotas after a motion to support them was rejected at the recent ard fheis. However, a spokesperson said it intended to “comply fully” with the legislation and that improving the position of women in politics was “a priority” for the party.

“Fianna Fáil is committed to addressing the gender imbalance within the party and within Irish politics generally,” a spokesperson said.

“Before the Government introduced legislation on gender quotas, the party had already pledged to ensure that at least one third of candidates in future elections would be female.”

The spokesperson said the Gender Equality Task Force is working on a series of initiatives aimed at attracting more women into the organisation at every level.

The bill passed by senators yesterday will require either gender to be represented by at least 30% of a party’s candidates in the next general election. This would raise to 40% within seven years.

Parties who fail to meet the quota will lose funding.

Before the gender quota laws were passed in the upper house, the Government voted down proposals by the Taoiseach-nominated independent senators that would have increased the quota to 50%.

It also rejected calls for the quotas to be introduced in time for the local elections of 2014.

Senator Fiach Mac Conghail said the seven-year wait for the 40% quota means up to three more general elections could take place before the limit is raised.

The independents withdrew a motion that candidates in general elections should offer “immediate disclosure of all corporate and personal donations” during campaigns.

Phil Hogan, the environment minister, said the move would require candidates who received any kind of donation, including putting a poster in the window of a house, “to send a form straight away reporting the receipt of such support”.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable, and that would be the effect of this amendment.”