“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”

 

The Iron Lady may be making it big at the box office and on the awards circuit at the moment, but her opinion on women in politics seems to get short shrift in most political party circles come election time.  

 

Consequently, Ireland has just one woman for ever six men in Dáil Eireann at the moment, leading to the current debate over whether women are adequately represented and prompting calls for gender quotas.

 

Many people are against gender quotas, seeing them as sexist, anti democratic and unfair to the men and women who have made it to Dáil Eireann on their own initiative. Like most politicians, Margaret Thatcher can be found to come down on the other side and is also quoted as saying she owes nothing to women’s lib and everything to her father. But is the status quo fair and, if not, how can we go about shaking things up, so that more women run and get elected?

As readers of the Money Matters column in this paper will have read last week, women now represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined. According to our columnist Hannah Kiely, women now control 65 per cent of global spending, are influential in the final decisions in 91 per cent of house purchases, 65 per cent of new cars, 80 per cent of healthcare choices and 66 per cent of computers. And yet when it comes to politics in this country, the forum where the greatest decisions are made, we only get one sixth of the say.

The debate over how to address the imbalance was at the heart of a conference that took place in Dublin on Friday. ‘How to elect more women’ was addressed by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who said the Dáil needed to moderate its behaviours and may need to ensure that meetings can accommodate the family responsibilities of members.

Galway Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has said that allowing representatives to vote via a password-secured device should be explored as a feature of a more progressive and family-friendly Oireachtas.

That’s just one suggestion, but expect to hear many more in the months ahead, as the debate intensifies in the lead up to the Government’s plan to introduce gender quotas.

As it does, ask yourself this: is it that women are loath to put themselves forward or are there too many obstacles in their way? If you are considering the question, perhaps there is room to consider quotas.