I welcome Ms Hussey, Ms O'Donnell and Ms Bhreathnach. I served with each of them in the Houses of the Oireachtas during the past 25 years and I am of the view that they, and some of those present in the Visitors Gallery, made a major contribution to national politics.
I have always found it easy to work with women, be it in politics or in community organisations. I accept that what I am about to say is somewhat of a sweeping statement but I have generally found women more reliable than their male counterparts in the context of executing certain tasks. In my experience, if a woman gives a commitment, she follows through on it.
As far as committees are concerned, I have always believed in taking responsibility myself. However, it has been my practice to give women responsibility for particular tasks because they always execute them well. If one takes this analogy further and applies it to the sphere in which we operate, it is obvious that our society could only gain if more women were involved in local and national politics. When one considers that more than 50% of the population is female, it should follow that a similar percentage of women should be involved in politics. Female representation in the Dáil stands at 13%, while in the Seanad it is 22%. These figures will have to be improved considerably. I hope this report will be of assistance in that regard.
In the previous Dáil, I was rapporteur in respect of a report on women in sport. I accept that politics is a different type of sport. The report to which I refer was quite effective at the time and it contained a number of recommendations which certainly improved the lot of women in sport. In the first instance, the report highlighted the matter and led to a major conference being held at Croke Park. The report to which I refer raised the profile of women in sport to a considerable degree and it also highlighted the lack of facilities — providing examples of instances where women were obliged to share changing rooms with their male counterparts, etc. — available to them.
The exercise in which our guests are engaging is extremely important. I would not underestimate the potential of their report to have some impact on the system. For that reason alone, what they are doing is a worthwhile exercise. People continually come before the various committees in order to present their views. That is part of the democratic process and, in the end, these individuals may not achieve very much. However, I am convinced that our guests' presence at this meeting and the exercise in which they are engaged will achieve something.
I am of the view that more women must become involved in politics at local branch level. Fine Gael operates a system of one person one vote. Whereas I know such a system can be abused — for example, by someone recruiting a large number of members to a particular branch in order to ensure his or her selection as a candidate — it provides everyone with a feeling that they are involved and that they have a say. When it comes to selecting a candidate to run for the party, everyone has a vote. As a result, if more women were involved at local branch or constituency level, there is a better chance that one of their number might be selected as a candidate. I have also found it to be the case that not all women will vote for a female candidate. This is another issue that must be addressed. I do not know why this is the case but it is certainly a factor.
I served as my party's spokesperson on arts, sport and tourism in the previous Dáil. At that stage, the National Women's Council of Ireland carried out a study on the membership of State boards. I checked the position with regard to tourism, which is driven by women. I examined the membership of the various tourism boards and discovered that hardly any of them contained women. As a result, I saw to it that the matter was put to a vote in the Dáil at that time. The position has improved in the interim but during the period to which I refer I suggested a quota system should be introduced, via legislation, in respect of the boards of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. The then Minister stated that in view of the fact that all ten people serving on a particular board could be women — if they were good enough — there was no need to set a quota or a percentage.
My suggestion at the time was that 40% of the membership of these boards should be women. Such a percentage is enshrined in certain items of legislation but not in others, so there is a contradiction. I am of the view that we should recommend that 40% of the membership of State and semi-State boards should be made up of women. In addition, a similar percentage should apply in respect of VECs and county development and partnership boards. If women are to make an impact, it is important that they should be involved at local and national level. I agree with Ms O'Donnell and Ms Hussey regarding the importance of local participation and that if one is not involved locally, this should not be a bar to one being involved on a national level.
If a person wishes to become a Deputy, generally speaking he or she must have a high profile. The only reason I was asked to enter politics was because I was a Gaelic footballer. That was the only reason. Seán Kelly, MEP, gained election to Europe on foot of his participation in the GAA. If one does not gain election in this way, one must inherit one's seat from a family member. In such circumstances, it is problematic for women to gain election because it is difficult for them to build up a high profile. Some of them do build up such profiles but not to the same extent as their male counterparts. That is another disadvantage which women face. If a man wishes to gain a high profile, he must move in certain circles and appear at a large number of social events. The women find it difficult to do that because at times they believe that if they are seen at too many events on their own, for example, people start to ask questions. It poses difficulties and challenges for them which men do not have. These are two aspects which women have to overcome in order to become representatives. Most of the questions have already been asked.
I refer to the use of modern technology by women who live more remotely from Dublin. Would it be possible to use modern technology such as video-conferencing? For example, if a joint committee was in progress, would it be possible for a woman with young children to be at home in the west of Ireland and communicate with the committee by means of video-conferencing? This may be taking it to an extreme, but there is the question of distance voting. Would it be possible for someone to vote from a centre near home? This would accommodate women. Is there any way that modern technology could make life easier and facilitate the involvement of women who have family obligations? As Ms O'Donnell said, could we help them more?
Members of this sub-committee such as Senator Bacik and myself will have to come up with realistic proposals which hopefully will ensure that more women will be involved in politics. I wish to give an example from the recent local elections. In Tralee my party had just one candidate out of a total of 12 candidates. I decided to go out and try to head-hunt two prominent women. I was successful and both of them were elected. We now have three representatives where there was only one before. It proves the point that well known women have an advantage. If they are involved in local community initiatives they will have the connections. That was proved to me when two women with high profiles who were not associated with the party were elected based on their connections with their community at grassroots level. I ask for the delegation's views on the use of technology.