The Adoption of Legislative Gender Quotas in the Republic of Ireland

1. The Adoption of Legislative Gender Quotas in the Republic of Ireland Fiona Buckley University College Cork f.buckley@ucc.ie Co-founder, The 5050 Group Web: http://5050-group.com/blog Email: info@5050-group.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/@5050group Presentation to Women and Constitutional Futures: Gender equality matters in a new Scotland Conference Royal Society of Edinburgh 14th February 2013

2. Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 • 30% gender quota • Ensure 30% women and 30% men candidates on the ballot paper at next general election • A candidate selection quota • Quota to rise to 40% seven years thereafter • Sanction: parties lose half of their State funding is they do not meet quota requirement

3. Women’s political representation in ROI: The facts! “Irish political culture remains embarrassing because of its maleness and the contempt it continues to show towards women” (DiarmuidFerriter: 2011) Dáil • Only 25 of 166 Dáil seats held by women (15.25%). • Only 91 women have been elected to serve in DáilÉireann since the foundation of the State. • Of the total 4744 Dáil seats filled since 1918, only 260 (5.48%) have been occupied by women. • Of the 181 people who have served in cabinet in Ireland since 1922, only 12 (7%) have been women. Seanad (Senate) • Only 86 women have ever served in the Seanad. • Seanad - 18 of the 60 seats (30%) are held by women. Comparative Context • Ireland occupies 91st ranked position out of 133 nation-states in IPU rankings • 23rd place amongst the 27 EU member states • Ireland falls behind both the world average (19.5%) and EU average (24%) for women’s political representation. Local Government • Women account for 17% of the members of local authorities and just 12% of the members of regional authorities. General Election 2011 • Only eighty-six women out of a total of 564 candidates contested the 2011 General Election • In 21 of the 43 constituencies there are no women TDs. National Women’s Council of Ireland - 370 years until gender parity in political representation in Ireland.

4. % Women and Men Parliamentary Representation (EU27)

5. Women’s Participation in Politics Parliamentary Committee‘The Bacik Report’ 2009 • Candidate selection ≈ Gender Quotas • Cash≈ Targeted Funding • Confidence ≈ Role model effects; Education, mentoring & training (e.g. Women for Election) • Care ≈ better childcare facilities; paternity leave; maternity leave; • Culture ≈ need to fix other Cs to see cultural change; awareness campaigns; gendering parliament (Meier, 2009)

6. What does the 5050 Group do? • Advocacy group dedicated to achieving equal representation in Irish politics • Fully inclusive and politically non-aligned • Voluntary & grassroots movement • Lobby for the implementation of special measures (quotas) to increase the number of women on the ballot paper; • Give more women the opportunity to get onto the ballot paper thus providing voters with greater choice • Build general awareness of the importance of redressing the balance of representation of women in Irish politics • Identify and support women candidates • Future Watchdog role?

7. ‘Velvet Triangle’ (Alison Woodward, 2004) Policy Makers Civil Society Academia

8. Lessons learned from the Republic of Ireland • Never waste a good crisis! • Economic/financial crisis (system shock) has resulted in calls for ‘political reform’ • Get out there and get active! • Women’s mobilisation does work • Support from male elites • Gender quotas seen as are a strategic measure • Meeting election promises on political reform • Legislation required to change behaviour of political parties (the gatekeepers) • Party level ‘soft targets’ have been tried but failed due to lack of strong party leadership & commitment (political will) on promoting women’s political representation • Of the €12.3 million the four main parties drew down from the Exchequer in 2011, just 0.63% was spent on measures to promote the participation of women

9. The number of additional women candidates the five main parties would need to fieldto meet a 30% gender quotaFigures based on 2011 General Election 9

10. Implications for party state funding if 30% gender quota is not achieved (Buckley, 2012)

11. Challenges Ahead for Implementation of Gender Quotas in the ROI • No gender quota for local elections • Who will monitor candidate selection? • How do you prevent parties from selecting women candidates in ‘non-traditional’ strongholds? • Will this simply re-enforce the ‘tokenism’ argument? • Will there be resentment from ‘local’ party and male candidates? • Will the recently announced reduction in Dáil seats (down from 166 to 158) make the implementation of the gender quota even more difficult (less opportunity space)? • Manage expectations • Women elected following the introduction of gender quotas elsewhere felt pressure to ‘produce the goods’; ‘to be different’; ‘to change the system’ • Get real, it won’t happen overnight!

12. Final Thoughts! “A society that is without the voice and vision of a woman is not less feminine. It is less human” (Mary Robinson) • Politics is a tough job, but women are as able as men to do it • Gender quotas provide an opportunitystructure to facilitate women’s electoral candidacy • access to the ballot paper • change political parties candidate selection procedures • Gender quotas provide voters with greater electoral choice • (i) option to choose between men and women; • (ii) between women of different parties • If not quotas, what is the alternative? If not now, when?

13. Contact the 5050 Group www.twitter.com/@5050group www.facebook.com/5050Group http://5050-group.com/blog Email: info@5050-group.com