Democracy has been damaged by the marginalisation of women from politics and decision-making, according to research from the National Women's Council of Ireland.
Published at the weekend, the Irish Politics - Jobs For The Boys report, calls for legislation making 50 per cent of State funding for political parties dependent on their maintaining a 60/40 male/female balance in their lists of candidates.
The chairwoman of the council, Ms Grainne Healy, said Ireland ranked 59th out of 120 nations when it came to women's representation in parliament. With just 13 per cent of our parliamentarians women, the Irish rate is lower than the European (17 per cent) and American (16 per cent) averages and on par with the sub-Saharan African average of 13 per cent.
The percentage of TDs who are women has risen by just 1 per cent over the past 10 years. At this rate it would take 370 years for women to comprise 50 per cent of TDs. Of the 22 women TDs, 10 came into politics from already politically active families. Just 17 per cent of senators are women and 15 per cent of elected councillors.
The marginalisation of women was not only in politics but across the major decision-making bodies in the State, said Ms Healy. "Astoundingly, in 2002 there is not one woman on the 12-member board of the Central Bank of Ireland."
The report, which draws on research commissioned by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, found women accounted for between 10 and 30 per cent of board members on the 11 health boards; for between 0 and 64 per cent on State bodies and for between 9 and 35 per cent on the regional tourism authorities.
Of the 47 State bodies listed, on only four - the Combat Poverty Agency (77 per cent), the Equality Authority (61 per cent), IBTS (50 per cent) and the Legal Aid Board (64) - did women make up at least half their boards' membership. This is despite government guidelines since 1991 requiring ministers to ensure at least 40 per cent of all nominations to State boards are women.
It is important, not only for women but for democracy, that a greater participation of women be achieved, says the report. Quoting a United Nations report, it says: "There can be no true democracy, no true people's participation in governance and development without the equal participation of women and men in all spheres of life and levels of decision-making."
Ms Healy said there would have to be change. The current system was historically framed by men and best suited to men. Affirmative policies would be necessary to break this. Until then career structures would continue to be "intimidating for most women" and "the interests of women \ not be represented adequately".
Ms Healy also called on the Government to fund and support the women's community sector; to promote greater women's participation in decision-making on state boards; to change Dáil working practices to a system of shorter sittings and longer parliamentary sessions and to re-establish an Oireachtas committee dedicated solely to women's affairs.
