Claire McGing: Getting the balance right in Dáil Éireann

Increasing the number of women candidates through gender quotas does not automatically lead to more women being elected as TDs 

When President Higgins presented the new ministers with their Seal of Office in June 2020, six of the Cabinet members were women — just over 30%, however, in that year’s general election, the number of women elected was 36, representing 23% of seats in Dáil Éireann. File picture: MAXWELLS

The upcoming general election in Ireland, likely to be held before the end of the year, marks the third ‘cycle’ of gender quotas for party candidates. 

Introduced in 2012 by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition, quotas were a response to both internal and external pressures to increase women’s representation in politics.