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

[ectoraige]

Paid for by whom ?

You do realise that many companies will look at females of child bearing age and decide NOT to recruit simply because they have to pick up massive Maternity pay costs plus backfill while gaining nothing in return.

All very well shouting and screaming what businesses should do but when you add massive costs into a SME they act accordingly in the future.

You completely missed the point. At present women are already entitled to 26 weeks paid maternity leave, and 16 weeks unpaid. I'm not proposing that the fathers get the same again, I'm suggesting that it be shared between both parents. In fact the total available paid leave that I proposed comes to 24 weeks, so if anything, it should be cheaper.

The scenario you outline is one that is already happening, and what my suggestion is supposed to redress. Instead of females of child-bearing age being silently passed over, any man would become as much a potential liability for the employer. If anybody comes out of it better off, it would be older women unlikely to have any more children.

So I'm not adding *any* cost whatsoever, except employers who in the past chose a man over a woman will find that he no longer has the surety he thought he did.

[ectoraige]

1. agree with completely
2. not sure how this is connected to removing barriers for women entering dail eireann
3. agree
4. same as 2.
5. ??

All I see is 2 points, cut out evening sittings, and convert maternity to parental leave, is that it?

The intent of both of these is to reduce the clientism that comes as part of the job. It is responsible for a huge part of their working day, and I feel the role should be focused more on legislating.

The final point is a reminder that there is no quick solution to the problem, and any proposed solution must accept this. Social attitudes are slow to change, introducing quotas doesn't alter this fact.

[Christine Murray]

surveys suggest that voters are gender neutral, though both incumbents and former incumbents isolated two problems i). supply, lrish politics are inherently laddish, which is partly societal. ii) Men apprentice and encourage other men rather than women candidates. Therefore women are not often or enough at policy-making level.

[Mark.Keogh]

RTÉ News: Suspended sentence for husband's manslaughter
RTÉ News: Woman granted bail over Drogheda stabbing
Women - men are fair game for a hammering or a stabbing


RTÉ News: Man refused bail in menacing message case
Lads - watch how you text or you'll end up in the clanger

[Christine Murray]

*Wrong thread* This is about the absence of women at policy-making level.

[Clanrickard]

*Wrong thread* This is about the absence of women at policy-making level.

As half the electorate are women it is presumably what they want.

[Christine Murray]

read the thread @Clanrickard, the electorate are quite gender neutral in terms of representation, the absence is accounted for at supply level = our political culture is Laddish.

[captainwillard]

read the thread @Clanrickard, the electorate are quite gender neutral in terms of representation, the absence is accounted for at supply level = our political culture is Laddish.

Our political culture is laddish? Politics is very difficult on famiy life. Women are often bringing up children when men are furthering their political careers. End of story and nothing to do with laddishness.

[Christine Murray]

thus its being examined in terms of ameliorating women's participation @Captainwillard, but don't bother to read the thread at all before hopping in there with guns loaded etc -

[Clanrickard]

read the thread @Clanrickard, the electorate are quite gender neutral in terms of representation, the absence is accounted for at supply level = our political culture is Laddish.

To say that you'd need to prove that where a female politician wasn't available women voted for a male politician when they would have voted for a woman. Not possible. Reality is women vote as mothers, wives, workers etc not as just women.