The Oireachtas has a library & research service. It provides TDs & Senators with a general summary of developments – developments members need to know about in order to do their job (their “Parliamentary duties“).
“Spotlight” is published by the Oireachtas Library & Research Service.
In Issue No 6 November 2010, “Gender balance in EU Parliaments – Insights for Ireland” is useful. If you want a good brief on this topic – click this link…
This is the summary…
“This Spotlight focuses on the experiences of European Union national parliaments in implementing special measures, especially gender quotas, which aim to improve the gender composition of those legislatures. A handful of these parliaments have achieved a more balanced participation by both genders while others have made progress towards that target.
Although quota systems can improve the gender balance amongst candidates, if they are to succeed in getting more women elected they need to be applied in a way that attends to the intricacies of the electoral system.
Political parties also play a key role in balancing gender representation in parliament since they nominate candidates for elections.”
Maybe it’s time we all know more about what’s happening to bring about better representation in other EU countries – eh?
