OPINION: There is a staggering gender gap in the Dáil but here's why quotas will never work

There has been deep disappointment expressed by grassroots groups, feminist organisations and the general public across the country as it became clear the jaw-dropping gender imbalance in the new Government.

As it stands, there are only six women amongst the record number of 23 Junior Ministers which sees the number of women in the Cabinet go from four to three.

Even though we as women make up over half the population, our voices, needs and input have all been reduced down to a mere fraction of the representation we desperately need within the Dáil. 

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We play an indispensable role in society, in healthcare, education and in caregiving but we also exist in other areas of the workforce and have the capacity to excel in other areas too and we have excelled.

70% of the healthcare workforce are women and for those of us outside of teaching and caring professions, it is a constant battle to be treated with even a fraction of the respect our male colleagues are shown and for our skillsets that we have worked hard to develop to be acknowledged.

It was also painfully clear during the General Elections, just because women ran, did not mean they ran for women and in some cases, it was clear that they did not even run for themselves.

Our experiences and our voices are essential for the functioning of our democracy and it's been disappointing to see what can only be described as a loophole be found and exploited in the gender quota where female candidates were clearly used to prop up their male party colleagues across multiple constituencies.

What is even more disappointing is that people were angrier at a Handmaid's Tale reference made by a female candidate than they were at the politicians who humiliated their female party colleagues by denying them an honest and fair run.

I know it was hard or jarring for some to hear, but Social Democrats candidate Elisa O'Donovan was not wrong and calling women "handmaidens" in this context was not a stretch. It was hard to hear or maybe embarrassing for some to see even suggested about them but that does not mean she was wrong.

It does not matter what quota is put in place if no one is going to uphold and back these quotas with the intention of using them to actually establish equality. We will not reach a point where a person's qualifications and ability to do the job is not clouded by gender discrimination if women continue to allow themselves to be reduced to a prop for the sake of said quota.

There is no gap in terms of capability but there certainly is a gap in terms of how women's capability is barely acknowledged and at times, flat out disregarded by their male colleagues.

How can we expect these parties, who have been exploiting the quota, to change when our voting habits will not change? This issue runs deeper than it seems and the only way forward is through having those uncomfortable conversations we so often try to avoid.

Conversations about either choosing to be ignorant in our complicity as we allow ourselves as women to be used to prop up men instead of calling out the disrespect shown to us when we stand as their equals or worse, do so knowingly and without a care for the implications for future generations of women. 

This does not have to be about men versus women but it will continue to be framed like that until we are ready to sit in discomfort, reflect and change our attitudes and our ways.

As a young adult, I doubted how effective gender quotas could really be and this was compounded by a colloquium I attended as a young student journalist. Anna Serner was the CEO of the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) at the time and she, along with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) spoke about gender equity within the film industry.

When Anna Serner joined the SFI in 2011, women directed just 26% of the films funded by the institute. By 2014, 50% of the films it backed were funded by women and by 2016 that figure grew to 64% female-led projects. 

This institute was the first to reach that benchmark but not only that, Serner did not use quotas to achieve gender equality. She simply put it down to focusing on the quality of the projects in front of them, filmmakers were judged purely on the relevance, originality and craft of their work.

Hearing about Serner's legacy at the time instilled a sense of hope in me that there was another way forward that would not take a hundred years to see the changes we so desperately need now.

Even though gender quotas can get women in the door, they do not keep us in the room and they certainly do not guarantee us a real seat at the table.