Politicians pander to the "women's vote" by creating quotas for membership of State boards, according to Fine Gael's justice spokesman.
Mr John Deasy said that year after year in legislation politicians said "there has to be a certain percentage of women on boards, but that is patronising women and it is used by politicians to curry favour with women", and "you can be a little too politically correct when it comes to these provisions".
He said that "many women are offended when male politicians go on about this", and it smacked of "pandering and political correctness".
Sinn Féin's justice spokesman, Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh conceded that "for once" the Progressive Democrats was a model which other parties should examine because it had 50:50 male/female representation within the Dáil.
But he rejected the accusation that he was "pandering to women" and said that Sinn Féin had changed its electoral procedure for the party's Ard Comhairle, to increase the percentage of women from one third to 50 per cent.
They were speaking during a debate on a Labour party amendment calling for women to make up 40 per cent of the Appeal Board and the authority to be created under the Private Security Services Bill.
The Bill will regulate the security industry, including "bouncers".
Fine Gael abstained in the vote on the amendment, which was defeated by 68 to 28.
During the debate on the amendment, which the Minister for Justice rejected, Mr McDowell said his party took equality seriously.
"We do not posture about it. We do not make noise about it. We just go and do it." He suggested that Sinn Féin should follow the Progressive Democrats' example and elect a woman leader of the party.
Mr McDowell told deputy Ó Snodaigh that "this matter requires commitment in spirit, not in letter.
"It requires a determination and hunger for equality in practice, not just on paper."
Mr Ó Snodaigh agreed with the Minister that his party did not have gender equality.
But, he said, they had a process in the party to address the issue "including for candidates running in elections". Labour's spokesman, Mr Joe Costello, who introduced the amendment, said that gender issue had been around for a long time, but there had been little improvement in certain areas.
Unless the legislation specifically required there be a gender balance on the authority "there is not the slightest hope it will be representative of both sexes".
The Bill creates an authority which will control and supervise people providing security services, and will have responsibility for the licensing of companies and every individual in the security firm.
