#FemGen: 35 women elected to the 32nd Dail
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2016
In advance of International Women’s Day, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) gathered with newly elected women to mark a breakthough election, which saw 35 women elected to the 32nd Dail.
The National Women’s Council were joined on the day by newly elected TD for Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael’s Kate O’Connell; Mayo’s newest woman TD, Fianna Fail’s Lisa Chambers; Joan Collins, Independent TD for Dublin South Central; the co-leader of the Social Democrats Catherine Murphy; the Sinn Fein MEP for Dublin, Lynn Boylan; and Senator Ivana Bacik of Labour, as well as Brid Smith, People Before Profit TD for Dublin South Central. The event was chaired by businesswoman and former Rose of Tralee, Maria Walsh.
The success of gender quotas was discussed by the TDs and the audience. Gender quotas were necessary to accelerate the pace of change for women’s equality, and it is clear that porgress wasn’t happening without them. The success of gender quotas in increasing women's representation was viewed as hugely significant.
Also highlighted at the event was the importance of women’s equality in the Programme for Government negotiations. Throughout the general election campaign, the bigger parties were promising tax cuts, even though there was a huge appetite among the electorate for investment in public services, and a fairer recovery.
It was clear from both the election outcome as well as our event, that women in particular want to see investment in public services, we want an affordable childcare model, and investment in front line domestic and sexual violence services. Repealing the 8th Amendment is a key issue.
Over 150 candidates signed our Breakthrough Manifesto, committing to prioritise women’s equality if elected. It is now crucial that we see these policies reflected in the Programme for Government.
With government negotiations underway, reform is a hot topic. In order to build on the success of the gender quota, we must make the Oireachtas more woman and family friendly, we must ensure that the women that have won their seat will want to retain their seat in successive elections.
NWCI and our members want to see the following recommendations implemented:
1. Create a family-friendly Oireachtas; introducing maternity and paternity leave, working more business hours, and using video conferencing and remote voting;
2. Promote women to Cabinet and devolve power to the Oireachtas members and committees;
3. Conduct a gender audit and establish a clear plan for making policies and practices more gender sensitive;
4. Develop a ‘Code of Conduct’ to promote a culture of respect;
5. Invest in politicians through gender sensitive training and professional development programmes;
6. Promote solidarity among women politicians through the establishment of a Women’s Caucus.
NWCI would like to say a massive thank you to all our members and supporters who encouraged their candidates to sign our #FemGen manifesto, and who used the manifesto to decide who to vote for. Photos from the day can be viewed in our Photo Gallery.