"Do we need gender quotas to ensure women are fairly represented?"

[goosebump]

Oh, absolutely hard graft is necessary, sure we can see how hard our TDs work and how fit they all are from being up all night resolving national problems alright.

Opening off-licences and hob-nobbing with crappy pop-bands being the hallmark of FF/PD/Green

You should have pointed out in your OP that you were just another paranoid media slave with a limited understanding of the complexities and realities of Irish politics before asking us to engage in an ostensibly serious debate.

[White Horse]

I can't see how one can deny that it is a problem, unless one genuinely believes that women are significantly worse at being TDs than men.

It is only a problem is male TD's are incapable of adequately representing female constituents.

No-one has provided any evidence that this is the case.

[Panopticon]

It is only a problem is male TD's are incapable of adequately representing female constituents.

No-one has provided any evidence that this is the case.

It's not a problem that we have prima facie evidence of women's being excluded from political participation? We don't even need to appeal to arguments about democracy or representation; we can simply say it's unfair on those women who seek to participate that they face more barriers, or we can appeal to men's and women's having different preferences, or thinking differently about problem-solving, in an argument about the quality of our policies.

[Baron von Biffo]

It's not a problem that we have prima facie evidence of women's being excluded from political participation? We don't even need to appeal to arguments about democracy or representation; we can simply say it's unfair on those women who seek to participate that they face more barriers, or we can appeal to men's and women's having different preferences, or thinking differently about problem-solving, in an argument about the quality of our policies.

There's a difference between being excluded from participation and being an unsuccessful participant.

Women are not excluded from participation in any part of the political process.

[White Horse]

It's not a problem that we have prima facie evidence of women's being excluded from political participation? We don't even need to appeal to arguments about democracy or representation; we can simply say it's unfair on those women who seek to participate that they face more barriers, or we can appeal to men's and women's having different preferences, or thinking differently about problem-solving, in an argument about the quality of our policies.

There are 166 TDs.

This argument seems to resolve around whether anti discimination legislation be abandoned to discriminate against men so that approximately 30 additional jobs should go to women.

I would only consider adopting such a disciminatory policy if women were not being adequately respresented in our parliamentary democracy.

However, no one has presented such evidence.

[Panopticon]

There's a difference between being excluded from participation and being an unsuccessful participant.

Women are not excluded from participation in any part of the political process.

If local Fianna Fáil cumainn and Fine Gael branches are sexist, then yes women are excluded from the political process. The exclusion doesn't have to exist in law, just as the solution doesn't have to exist in law. Neither does exclusion have to be absolute; if it were, the solution would be tokenism, and that seems repugnant to all sides.

[ectoraige]

It is only a problem is male TD's are incapable of adequately representing female constituents.

No-one has provided any evidence that this is the case.

I hear what you're saying.. I don't think men are inherently unable to represent female constituents although in general people are most passionate about the issues that most affect them. One might expect there to be some female issues which receive less attention, but as you say, what evidence is there? Certainly breast cancer receives much more attention than prostate cancer does.

The reason I think gender-balance in the Oireachtas is important is I believe it is an indicator of the inequality that remains in our society. I don't think it can be tackled from the top down though, we will only have equal representation when we have an equal society.

[Panopticon]

There are 166 TDs.

This argument seems to resolve around whether anti discimination legislation be abandoned to discriminate against men so that approximately 30 additional jobs should go to women.

I would only consider adopting such a disciminatory policy if women were not being adequately respresented in our parliamentary democracy.

However, no one has presented such evidence.

one can recognise a problem in society while also not seeking State intervention to try to fix it.

Incidentally, if you added 30 women to Dáil Éireann, you would still have 52 women and 114 men. Bless those weak males subject to such a burden.

[Baron von Biffo]

If local Fianna Fáil cumainn and Fine Gael branches are sexist, then yes women are excluded from the political process. The exclusion doesn't have to exist in law, just as the solution doesn't have to exist in law. Neither does exclusion have to be absolute; if it were, the solution would be tokenism, and that seems repugnant to all sides.

No, if FF and FG branches are sexist then women are excluded from FF and FG. Membership of FF/FG isn't a prerequisite for participation in the political process.

[White Horse]

The reason I think gender-balance in the Oireachtas is important is I believe it is an indicator of the inequality that remains in our society. I don't think it can be tackled from the top down though, we will only have equal representation when we have an equal society.

I agree with you that it is important for that reason.

It is an example to the rest of society and to the business world.

For that reason, it is important that we don't have "token women" in the Dail who have been selected as candidates despite someone else being a better candidate.