Taoiseach missed the opportunity to balance the gender split – but local politics is best place to start
‘W ORTH waiting for” is not how Leo Varadkar’s announcement of his new junior ministers will be described. More of the same is closer to the point.
On Tuesday, after much anticipation and significant speculation, the list of the new juniors was made public. All descended onto the plinth for the obligatory photograph, a photograph that was striking for its lack of women. Just two of the ministers announced this week – Helen McEntee and Catherine Byrne – are women.
Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, an able junior minister in public health, was returned to the backbenches as punishment for her backing the wrong man for leader.
To add to the sting, a spokesman for the Taoiseach outlined that decisions on ministerial appointments were based on merit, suggesting that those who didn’t make the cut hadn’t made the grade.
The junior ministers’ posts come the week after the Cabinet was announced and there too the proportion of women is down, by virtue of the change in attorney general and increase in the number of super junior ministers. Now, of 34 senior Government positions, just seven are held by women.
The concept of merit is often wheeled out on these occasions, and usually to justify the non-selection or promotion of a woman versus a man. Why is it, I wonder, that it is so critical to political parties that the women they field meet this magical ‘merit’ status, while for many men, geography or family name will suffice?
And what do we mean by merit anyway? How can politicians demonstrate that they meet this gold standard? What does one have to do or not do as a backbencher to be considered a safe bet? And if it is all so much about merit, then why were so many Varadkar supporters rewarded for their support? Or should we assume that only politicians of merit lent their name to his campaign?
One element of this merit status is perhaps experience. The new Taoiseach took a decision that no one elected in 2016 would be promoted to the junior ministerial ranks. As a rationale, this makes sense, we want politicians of experience in the most senior roles, and it is not offensive to expect new politicians to spend considerable years learning the ropes.
But the lingering question is whether this was a genuine rationale, or an excuse. By employing it, the remaining four female hopefuls within Fine Gael were immediately ruled out, by virtue of their ‘new’ status.
Looking at the numbers, it is clear that Mr Varadkar had a problem. There are 11 women among Fine Gael’s 50 TDs. Three of those women – Frances Fitzgerald, Heather Humphreys and Regina Doherty – now hold full Cabinet seats. A fourth, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, holds a super junior position. Two others – Helen McEntee and Catherine Byrne – have been appointed junior ministers. That leaves four women of the 11 without a ministerial position: Josepha Madigan, Kate O’Connell, Maria Bailey and Hildegarde Naughton, all of the 2016 crop. Looking at it that way, a large proportion of the available women were rewarded with senior positions.
And therein lies the problem: pipeline. There are just 35 female TDs in Dáil Éireann, that is 22pc. That is the highest figure ever. At local council level, just 194 of 934 councillors are female, or 21pc. To get to a point where a gender-balanced Cabinet is a likely and straightforward proposal, we need to focus right back at local level – populating the pipeline with capable, competent female candidates contesting local elections, winning, working as councillors, contesting general elections, winning and entering the Dáil.
This is not a short-term strategy, but luckily the groundwork has begun. The quota legislation introduced in 2012 has been critical in giving the system a kick in the right direction. After much hand-wringing and the odd constituency bust-up, all parties managed to field 30pc (or more) female candidates in the 2016 General Election.
The quota – unfortunately – does not apply to local elections, but parties recognise the need to profile potential Dáil candidates locally and the value of council experience for a novice TD and for that reason it is likely that the 2019 local election, while not bound by the quota, will see its impact.
But even recognising the pipeline problem, this week’s appointments were a disappointment, and a missed opportunity. Mr Varadkar has likened himself to Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau, two leaders who, on taking office, appointed gender-balanced cabinets and made clear and strong public statements as to why this is both politically sensible and morally right.
It was at this moment, as a fresh, new leader that our new Taoiseach had the greatest chance to demonstrate intent. That chance will not come again in the same way. Fine Gael, in coalition with the Labour Party, introduced the gender quota legislation, steered through the Dáil by Phil Hogan. The party fielded and ran increased numbers of women in the 2014 local elections and the 2016 General Election. There is no doubt that the party is firmly committed to this agenda.
For that reason, this week’s decisions are all the more disappointing, and a once-in-a-political-career opportunity was missed.
As a fresh, new leader our Taoiseach had the greatest chance to demonstrate intent. That chance will not come again in the same way