Voluntary quotas likely for local council elections

GENDER quotas are likely to be applied to the forthcoming council elections on a voluntary basis, deputy Catherine Martin of the Green Party has predicted.

Ms Martin is chairwoman of the Women’s Caucus, an allparty grouping of elected Leinster House women, set up to advance the role of females in politics.

The caucus has been in negotiations with local government minister Eoghan Murphy to find ways to increase the involvement of women in local government.

Ms Martin said negotiations were ongoing to find ways of encouraging parties to reach the 30% balance.

She says they have ‘asked the Government to consider using the carrot rather than the stick, where parties will be rewarded for reaching the 30% with a state-funded equality officer’.

It is believed that minister Murphy is positively disposed and negotiations are almost complete.

Ms Martin said: ‘One of the remaining questions is whether this can be achieved by regulation, since legislation could take too long.’