Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly: Review Report

Committee Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 12:30 pm on 9 March 2015.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker 12:30, 9 March 2015

The Business Committee has agreed to allow up to one hour and 30 minutes for this debate. The proposer of the motion will have 10 minutes to propose and 10 minutes to make a winding-up speech. All other contributors will have five minutes.

Photo of Pat Sheehan Pat Sheehan Sinn Féin

I beg to move

That this Assembly approves the report of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee on its Review of Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly [NIA 224/11-16].

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. As Deputy Chairperson of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, I move the motion on the day following International Women’s Day, which makes this debate more poignant.

The purpose of this debate is to approve the report, 'Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly', but, on this auspicious occasion, it is also an opportunity for the Assembly, political parties and the Executive to commit to turning the recommendations made in this report into meaningful actions that will address the lack of women in politics here in the North.

I will put in context why the Assembly and Executive Review Committee agreed to review this topic. In 2013, following a review of the responses received from political parties, the Committee commissioned a paper from the Assembly's Research and Information Service on one of the topics identified, entitled "Women in Politics". The paper summarised the background to women’s representation or, more specifically, under-representation in politics here in the North. The stark facts outlined in the paper were enough for the Committee to consider prioritising this issue as its next review. With only 21 females out of 108 elected representatives in the Assembly, the North has one of the lowest levels of female representation of devolved and national legislatures in the UK and Ireland. If placed in international legislatures, the Assembly would rank 70th out of 189 countries.

In June 2014, the Committee agreed the terms of reference for the review and agreed to analyse barriers and challenges facing women seeking to enter political life, examine the potential of existing initiatives, explore the merits of positive action and, finally, provide recommendations and conclusions. The Committee listened to evidence on this issue from leading academics, representatives from the women’s sector and a former Deputy Speaker of this House. The Committee received 20 substantial responses to the written call for evidence, including from academia, trade unions and the women's and youth sectors. Finally, 60 key stakeholders attended a round-table event in October 2014, which was opened by the two junior Ministers, Minister McCann and Minister Bell. I would like to take this opportunity to express the Committee’s appreciation to all those who contributed to the inquiry.

While encountering a wealth of knowledge within the North, it was important for the Committee to experience how other legislatures had approached increasing women’s participation in politics and the Committee undertook a fact-finding visit to the National Assembly for Wales. During its visit, the Committee was able to explore how the National Assembly for Wales managed to maintain 42% of women Assembly Members. The Committee considered the impact of an initiative developed by the Presiding Officer for the National Assembly for Wales, Dame Rosemary Butler, in order to encourage more women into public life for the 2016 elections. Members were able to discuss future plans of the National Assembly for Wales in increasing women’s participation in politics as well as taking evidence from academics and those who delivered the public life initiative.

The Committee was aware of the four Nordic countries that have consistently held the highest positions of gender equality in the world. One of those countries, Iceland, was considered a country to visit as the Icelandic Government have taken systematic steps to introduce and promote gender equality in all areas of society. One third of current Ministers are female and, in the Parliament, women hold nearly 40% of parliamentary seats. Iceland has had special legislation intended to ensure equality between women and men since 1976. The Icelandic Government and political parties have introduced a number of key actions to increase women’s participation in the political, social and economic life of the country.

While undertaking the review, the Committee was made aware of a number of programmes, policies and strategies undertaken by the Assembly, political parties and Departments. It was apparent that, in order to increase women in politics, a more holistic approach across the Assembly, political parties and Departments is required.

The final report has made a series of recommendations for the Assembly, political parties and the Executive to assist women into politics and support our existing female politicians. Here are three of the recommendations demonstrating what would have a positive impact on addressing the barriers for women. The Assembly needs to establish a working group, made up of elected women and men, who will monitor and promote measures to ensure that the Assembly becomes a gender-sensitive Parliament. While no consensus was reached on mandatory quotas or financial penalties, many other recommendations to political parties, if adopted, could have a major impact. For example, given the vital role that the media can play in telling us more about the views of women in political life, parties should ensure that their internal media strategies give women greater visibility. Time and time again, childcare was named as one of the main barriers to women. A childcare strategy for the North needs to be a priority, as that issue will remain a challenge for women considering a political career.

I take this opportunity to thank both the previous and present Speakers for their letters to the Assembly and Executive Review Committee supporting and encouraging more women into politics and committing to be mindful in the conduct of the Speaker’s responsibilities.

Finally, I would like to end by drawing attention to how the Assembly and Executive Review Committee reached consensus on all of the 29 recommendations; a clear indication as to how increasing women in politics should be a priority for political parties, the Executive and the Assembly. The Assembly and Executive Review Committee now requests that the Assembly approves the Committee’s report.

Photo of Alastair Ross Alastair Ross DUP

It has been mentioned by the Deputy Chair that yesterday was International Women's Day. I noticed the number of people who made reference to it on my Twitter feed and Facebook feed and put up women from right across the world who inspired people, whether they were in business, politics, sport or community activism. It was a very positive message and an indication of the positive role models that there are out there for young women. Sadly, I doubt that the report will get an awful lot of media coverage today, given the actions of Sinn Féin on welfare, which is disappointing, because I think that it is an important issue and one that should receive significant amounts of media coverage.

I only joined the Committee in the last number of months, so I did not have the advantage of the evidence sessions like other members did, but I have read through the report and some of the evidence sessions, and there are some stark findings. One would imagine that, given the fact that 50% of the population or thereabouts is female, a representative body such as the Assembly would also be around 50% female and that we would expect to have around 54 female Members of the House. The fact that we do not and that only a quarter of Members are female clearly says that there is a disconnect between the proportion of women in society and the proportion of women represented here in the Chamber, and that is something that is of concern. We are far from the worst Chamber anywhere in the world. There are Chambers much worse than ours in terms of their representative nature.

I was struck by looking at the particular areas. I know that the Committee went to Wales and to Iceland as part of its investigations. I notice that the Seychelles is much more representative in terms of females, and I wonder why the Committee did not take the opportunity to go for a study visit there. But why we have a lower number of women coming forward to put themselves up for election and, indeed, among those who are elected is a serious issue.

I read an article over the weekend in 'The Guardian'. It is not a newspaper that I read very often, but it said that there would be a significant number of female candidates for the Westminster election, which is only a number of weeks away, and they imagine that the next cohort of the House of Commons will have a significantly higher proportion of females.

I know that, at a local level, many of us will have the same experience of community groups or resident associations. When there is an issue in our local constituencies, it is often women who garner people together and are the drivers and force behind getting action taken in their local communities. It leads to this question: why are those women not putting themselves forward for their local council or, indeed, for the Assembly? Clearly there is an issue there, in that the electorate will pick who they want to represent them, but parties, too, have a responsibility in putting their candidates forward.

I know that it is not in the Committee recommendations — I am glad that it is not — but, during the evidence sessions, a number of people talked about quotas. I think that quotas can actually be a very dangerous thing if we want to have women who are empowered and put forward for election. What that means is that women may be put forward for reasons other than merit. I think that that actually does a disservice to females who want to come forward and stand for office, Therefore, I am glad that that is not part of the Committee's recommendations.

Photo of Anna Lo Anna Lo Alliance

I thank the Member for giving way. Dame Rosemary Butler was here last Friday and said, on quotas, that there has never been an issue about asking for merit in nominating men. That is a very interesting point that she put forward. We are always arguing that we should not have this issue about merit in nominating women, if you know what I mean.

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

The Member has an extra minute.

Photo of Alastair Ross Alastair Ross DUP

Obviously, meritocracy is important. Anybody, whether male or female, who is put forward should be there on the basis of merit. I hold that view about young people going to grammar school and people joining the police. I take the same view about people standing for public office, namely that it should be based exclusively on merit. That is just the view that I take, and I think that most people would agree with that.

One of the other issues that was brought up was the culture of politics and how that can be off-putting to women. We need to be realistic that there is a certain adversarial type of politics in legislatures right across the world. That is what politics is. It is quite often a very passionate profession where arguments are put forward. We also have to realise that being a politician is not like any other job. It is not a 9.00 am to 5.00 pm job. It is not five days a week. All of us would appreciate that, most nights of the week, we are out at different community events. We get phone calls at all hours of the day. It is not a particularly family-friendly profession to be in.

That is not to say that we cannot mitigate some of those things. In the report, there were discussions about whether or not we would limit the number of late-night sittings and whether there could be pairing in voting and even job-sharing. Some of those suggestions are wholly unrealistic. You could not job-share in being a representative. I just do not think that it would work. There are also issues with pairing, particularly in the type of Assembly that we have here and the way that votes often break down. However, there are other areas that we could look at to try to make it more family-friendly.

In conclusion, I would say that one of the most important things that we could all do is encourage females in our local community to put themselves up for election. I have spoken to many women who are involved in community groups in east Antrim and asked them why they have never put themselves forward for election. Their simple message is that nobody has ever asked them. There is an important role for parties to talent-spot within their constituencies, look at people who play a positive role in their local communities, and ask them if they would stand for election. That would go a long way to encouraging more women.

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

Before I call the next Member, I remind Members of the Speaker's ruling on electronic devices. Someone's phone is interfering with the speaker system, which, in turn, makes it very difficult for Hansard.

Photo of Seán Rogers Seán Rogers Social Democratic and Labour Party

This is a very important report, and I am pleased that the House is discussing it in the wake of yesterday's International Women's Day. However, the debate is somewhat bittersweet. It is great that we are having a discussion on how to improve women's participation in politics, but it is disappointing that it is a discussion that still needs to take place in 2015.

This is a movement that is, and rightly should be, led by women, but men must recognise that they have a responsibility to celebrate and support gender equality. Men and women suffer from gender stereotypes and gender inequality. Yes, we may keep in mind our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends, but that is not the reason why we should fight for women's rights. It is a simple matter of equality. As the Committee report notes, this is an issue that requires a diverse range of actions across public life. We need a concentrated effort to increase and enhance women's participation in public bodies and to tackle gender stereotypes in schools as early as possible, and for this Assembly to recognise the added challenge for women to participate in politics arranged along communal and conflict lines.

Women's demonstrable participation in the Assembly will impact on the character of Northern Ireland's politics as a whole and will act as a positive signal to young women and girls within and beyond the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Addressing the under-representation of women in politics will require a cultural shift, but that is not an excuse for us not to take action. The political system in Northern Ireland and across the world was largely created by men for men. Changing that system is not a patronising concession to women and should not be framed as such. We need to make progressive changes if we are ever to achieve a truly democratic and modern Parliament.

Many strategies and policies are in place in other parliamentary institutions that we can adopt and tailor to the Assembly. Those include the provision of on-site childcare and the mainstreaming of gender equality to all parliamentary work. A Member who spoke previously said that the role of a politician is not family friendly. This institution needs to become more family friendly. Voting at 1.00 am is just not on. In the short term, we should designate a time for votes on a Monday or Tuesday during Assembly time and, in the long term, we should be thinking about a more efficient electronic voting system.

Political parties also need to work with the Assembly to increase the number of women Members, the number of women who are selected for election and support those women when they are participating in public life. The centre for advancement of women in politics stated in a recent report that, of the 906 candidates who stood in Northern Ireland's local elections in 2014, less than a quarter were women. I am proud that 40% of the SDLP's new councillors in local government are women, yet we also realise that a lot more can be done and are examining the recommendations of the Committee's report with great interest. Most importantly, we need to listen to women in the Assembly about the barriers that they have overcome and those that they still face. They have the insight that will ensure that the recommended general action plan is meaningful and worthwhile. The SDLP will support the report.

Photo of Jo-Anne Dobson Jo-Anne Dobson UUP 12:45, 9 March 2015

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. At the outset, I join with others in welcoming the Assembly and Executive Review Committee's (AERC) review of women in politics and the Assembly. I also welcome the timely nature of the debate, given that, as Members who spoke previously said, yesterday was International Women's Day.

The Ulster Unionist Party welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the AERC's consultation, and my party has historical roots in promoting women. Indeed, the Ulster Women's Unionist Council continues to make an important contribution to this day, and I pay tribute to its officers and members. The council was established back in 1911 to encourage women to develop and contribute politically and to ensure representation at the highest levels within the party. I am proud to serve as the council's chair for my constituency of Upper Bann.

Every year, schools across Northern Ireland send pupils to take part in the Edgar Graham public speaking competition, which is held in the Senate Chamber. That is just one of many events that help to encourage and inspire young people — girls and boys alike — to engage with politics and play a role in society. I would also like to pay tribute to the staff of the Assembly's Education Service for the invaluable work that they do, and I know that their role is appreciated by Members across the House. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is for pupils and their teachers to come to this Building, and I am pleased that the Committee's findings acknowledged the importance of the education sector in encouraging women to consider a career in politics.

I welcome the outcome and the recommendations of the review. If politics and political decision-making in Northern Ireland are to become more reflective of society, there is undoubtedly a greater requirement for female representation. It is only by making politics more attractive to young women that we will truly see that future becoming a reality for the next generation of our political leaders.

Another issue that Michael McGimpsey and I have raised on a number of occasions in the Chamber is the lack of female representation at the top of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. While I welcome the Committee's recommendation that Ministers commit to addressing inequality, this should be led from the top of the Civil Service; it is a job for the Finance Minister, and one that needs urgent action to address. That leadership should come from the top. My party will continue to assist and empower the next generation of politicians.

I want to pay tribute to the councillors who will take up their new roles in the super-councils on 1 April; many of them will be first-time councillors and many are women. In making my contribution on the motion, I would like to pay particular tribute to Abigail Taylor MYP. Abigail, who is studying at Lurgan College, was elected just last week as a Member of the UK Youth Parliament for Upper Bann. She is an example of a young woman engaging in public life. As Members, we all need to be conscious of nurturing that interest to create the public representatives of the future. I had the privilege of having Abigail shadow me at work at Stormont recently and of watching her campaign successfully. She has a bright future ahead of her and I look forward to supporting her in that new role. I also pay tribute to the close runner-up, Adam Kinneen from Banbridge Academy, and all the entrants across Northern Ireland, candidates, teachers, teams and elected MYPs. They have done so much for their schools and have made Northern Ireland proud. What they have achieved is in the spirit of the Committee's report: increasing interest and representation amongst women.

In conclusion, young women will follow role models. I feel that it is for this House to lead by example. It is for Members to inspire and not to deflect young women, or indeed young men, from entering politics and to nurture their interest wherever we find it. I pay tribute to the Education Service, the teachers and pupils who come to Parliament Buildings, and also to the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for profiling issues that females are raising in Parliaments across the Commonwealth.

I welcome many of the Committee's recommendations, but the point that I make is that we must inspire change and not force it.

Photo of Trevor Lunn Trevor Lunn Alliance

I am very happy to support the Committee report on this occasion. It makes a change from the last time that the Committee reported, which was on petitions of concern, when I used the word "rubbish" far too many times. I certainly will not be using the word "rubbish" in connection with this report because it is a good and thoughtful report. It has been argued over at the Assembly and Executive Review Committee for quite a long time. I am glad that we have come to this day. It is particularly appropriate that it happens to be the day after International Women's Day, as others have said. I note that the Building was coloured purple for the occasion. I note the fact that that was due to a recommendation by my colleague Judith, who is just behind me here. I hope that it carries through. Next week, we could perhaps see a green colour and, in two or three months' time, we might see an orange colour lighting up the Building. It is the way forward.

I want to quote a couple of lines from one of the people who gave evidence to us, which was Jane Morrice, a previous Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. She talked about her personal experience of being an MLA, particularly:

"the incessant attempts to demean, humiliate and treat with disdain."

She also said about the media that:

"most of the men in the building would not be treated in the way that some of the media treat the women."

I hope that, as time goes on, no other female Member ever has to say something like that again. It is a fact. There have been recent examples here of when female Members were abused. Abuse is common practice in this place, but, once or twice, there was perhaps an edge to it that did not need to be there just because it happened to be a female person.

The issue of co-options came up during our discussions. Since the last election, there have been 14 opportunities in the House to improve the balance. In all 14 co-options, the replacement Member was a man; even, on three of those occasions, when the Member who was being replaced was a woman. One of the suggestions that my party made was that perhaps there may be some room for leeway there by way of, at least, a voluntary agreement to try to replace Members who are retiring or standing down with a member of the opposite sex. It would certainly have a beneficial effect with regard to what we are talking about today.

As part of the Committee's consideration of the issue, we went to Iceland. It was a very short and intensive trip. The culture in Iceland is completely different, and so is its voting system. Although they have been remarkably successful, some of the things that they do would not translate easily across to what we do here, because their voting system is different. They have a list system, and it is possible to arrange it in such a way that there will be a decent female representation.

The big issue of quotas came up as perhaps the most important issue that we talked about, and there is a recommendation here in respect of voluntary quotas for the parties. That is what this condenses down to, because there are recommendations here for the Assembly and how we could make it a bit more, dare I say it, female-friendly, but it would also become more male-friendly as a result of most of those recommendations. The real crux of it is this: how do parties bring forward their potential members? How do they cultivate them? How do they groom them? I use the word "groom" in its most polite sense. How do they go about changing the habit of ages, frankly, of making an assumption that it is a job for men only? That still applies in Northern Ireland culture, and it is something that we have to break through. Twenty-one out of 108 is not a proper representation. Women have a real contribution to make to our deliberations. They bring something to it — in some instances, common sense — that we can only dream about. I would absolutely —

Photo of Anna Lo Anna Lo Alliance

I thank the Member for giving way. Does the Member agree that a number of pieces of research have shown that female voters like to see more female candidates because they like to vote for female politicians.

Photo of Trevor Lunn Trevor Lunn Alliance

I hope that they would vote for the politician who most meets the demands that they would place upon their politicians and not worry too much about whether it was a man or a woman. The point is to put a relevant number of females on the ballot so that the population has a choice. Then it is up to the females, just as it is up to the males, to make the right impression, to bring forward their policies and, hopefully, to obtain the vote.

I end with this, Mr Speaker: it is up to the parties. We can do things up here to make the place a bit more user-friendly. I think it was Seán Rogers who talked about the voting system and the absurdity of having to sit here until 2·30 am to vote on something that you cannot even speak on. To have a set voting time on a Monday or a Tuesday, to tidy up the votes from the previous week, would, I think, be a major step forward for all concerned. I will leave it at that, Mr Speaker. I am very happy to support the motion; it will be a good day for the Assembly if we can carry it through.

Photo of Paula Bradley Paula Bradley DUP

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I, too, welcome the opportunity, as one of the only two female representatives on the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, to talk about our review on women in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I thank everyone who was involved in what has culminated in what we have before us. I thank the Committee Clerks, those who provided us with written and oral evidence and the Icelandic Parliament and the Welsh Parliament for their valuable help. I also say a big thank you to Michael Potter for the wonderful, wonderful research papers that he presented to the Committee on many occasions. No matter what we asked for, he seemed to be able to turn it up.

As others have done, I welcome the fact that we are having the debate today, the day after International Women's Day. I think I also need to give a vote of thanks to the Business Committee for tabling it today, because I know that there was a bit of difficulty in doing that.

As other Members have said, it is very timely that we are discussing this today, having seen over the weekend — on Saturday, in Belfast, and on Sunday, all around the world — women and men going out to join together to seek equality for women and to remember those wonderful pioneers in our history who came before us to make a difference, political and societal.

Therefore, it is very timely, albeit, as my colleague said, other issues will, I imagine, take up the news and media tonight. We will be very fortunate if we get as much as five seconds on the news tonight, but let us hope that someone out there actually sees that this issue is equally important to the others that will be discussed today.

Under the terms of reference, we examined the barriers that women face when entering politics, with particular reference to the Northern Ireland Assembly, initiatives to assist women entering politics, including positive actions, and the role of current Members. You will note from the Committee's conclusions that it was agreed unanimously that under-representation of women must be addressed by the Assembly as a matter of urgency.

I will turn to the submissions received in relation to the barriers that women face when entering politics, which are under the following headings: institutional barriers; political barriers; socio-economic barriers; and individual or psychological barriers. Like many other female Members in the Chamber, I go out regularly to speak, especially to women's groups — especially to young women's groups — and the feedback I get time and again is the great barrier that women face and how we are projected as women in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I remember being at an event not that long ago that was run by the Northern Ireland Women's European Platform (NIWEP) and Youth Action in the MAC, and Megan Fearon was with me at that event.

I sat with a group of young educated women, and their explanation of a politician was as follows: middle-aged, middle class, graduate and male. I thought, "Oh my goodness, is that the message we are putting out from the Assembly; is that a true representation of what we are in Northern Ireland?" I went on to tell them that I grew up in a working-class family, lived in a housing estate and was a single parent of two children by the age of 23, and still managed to break into political life and still managed to have an important role in the Assembly.

I think that we need to dispel a lot of the myths that surround politicians in Stormont. We also need to look at our culture in Northern Ireland. We have a culture were the woman's role is seen very much as the caring role, which we are, and, of course, I am happy to be that, but we are so much more than that. We are so much better — not that we are better than that but that we are more than that. We have so much to say and so much to give.

Working with our local communities, I see an underlying current of strong, capable women who want to put their point of view across but are so much put off by this political institution and what it is. Time and again within those groups, women come and speak to me about the issues that matter to them. I recently went to see a cross-community group of women from Ardoyne.

If anybody would like to come in at any stage and intervene to give me an extra minute, I would appreciate it.

Photo of Paula Bradley Paula Bradley DUP

I certainly will.

Thank you very much for your intervention; it was very welcome.

As I said, I met a cross-community group of women from Ardoyne not that long ago. What did they want to talk to me about? They wanted to talk to me about health, education, suicide and legal highs — all the problems that are happening in their community. Way down at the bottom of their list were the orange and green issues of Twaddell and the parade. That was important to them, but other issues were much more important. We need to look at how we deliver our politics and send out the strong message that we, as an Assembly, do many more things than argue and debate over orange and green politics.

That leads me on to the press and the media. I think they have a lot to answer for, and this came up time and again in the submissions. The 10 minutes that people see on the news at night about this party, that party or other parties having debates and arguments is not really the life of an Assembly Member, and it does not show a true reflection of what we do and how we work together.

I will finish off, Mr Speaker, by saying that this is timely and that we do need to see changes. It also shows that we are debating this matter — albeit we debate it only once a year, and we need to debate it more than that — and that we are evolving and maturing as an Assembly where we can now put this on the table and say, "We need to make changes". I would like to think, Mr Speaker — I know that I am very late — that this time next year or the year after, I will not be standing here having the same conversation.

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

As a man, I resisted telling you that your time was up.

Photo of Caitriona Ruane Caitriona Ruane Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I join my colleagues in welcoming the fact that the Assembly Commission unanimously supported Judith's proposal that we be purple today. I also thank the Business Committee for its support in changing times, dates, and so on. I put that on record.

We had a very good few months in the Assembly and Executive Review Committee. It began when each party leader was asked to nominate some issues that they felt should be addressed. Our party leader proposed gender equality. I thank the Assembly and Executive Review Committee for supporting that recommendation and for the work that has been done in the past number of months.

I join Paula Bradley in thanking the officials who expertly facilitated the report. There have been some very thoughtful presentations from men and women in the debate, but, despite Irish and British women leading the way in the suffragette movement, we are one of the worst in Europe. There is no point in us try to justify it: we are one of the worst. I am not going to cite loads of statistics, but I am going to give some. In the South of Ireland, 25 out of 166 Dáil seats are held by women, which is 15%. Some 91 women have been elected since the foundation of the Southern state. Since 1918, out of 4,744 Dáil seats, 260 have been held by women, which is 5·4%. Lest we get too cocky here in the North, where we have a new institution and an opportunity to do things differently, 14% of seats were held by women in 1998; in 2003, it was 18%; in 2007, it was 18%; and, in 2011, it was 19·5%. As my colleague Trevor Lunn said, we have the potential to improve that through co-option. I hope that he does not take it the wrong way if I do a little correction and tell him that four out of our six co-optees were women: Maeve, Bronwyn, Megan and Rosie. That is good, but not good enough. We still need to be doing better.

I welcome the fact that our youngest MLA is a young, articulate woman. I also put on record that last week was not a good place to be in the Chamber, when some of our men, who should have known better — only some, thankfully — asked Megan whether she had written her own speech. That is ridiculous and should not have happened.

Anyway, on the international stage, the South — Megan, to whom I referred, has just entered the Chamber — is 106th out of 184 when it comes to representation of women in Parliament, and we are 24th out of 27 in Europe.

I welcome the report, and each and every one of its recommendations. I have a very short time to speak, so I will not deal with them all, but I will single out a couple of issues. We need political leadership from the top of every single party. Trevor Lunn is right: this is about parties taking action. The Assembly cannot take action, but parties can. Leadership is about promoting women but also about promoting feminist women. I leave that there, and we can debate it. It is about putting women into winnable seats. Let us look at the Westminster election, right across the board, and see how many women are standing in winnable seats. It is also about quotas, which I support. I will say that again in case anyone did not hear it: I support quotas. Unless we bring in things such as quotas and financial penalties, I do not believe that we will really have the change that we need.

Sinn Féin is a party in which women having political power is normal: our vice president is a woman; we have three Ministers who are women; three of our four MEPs are women; and our Chief Whip is a woman. However, that is not good enough. We need 50:50. We need women managers and strategists. I would like to see our public bodies constituted as those in Iceland, where a law has introduced quotas in public appointments. Boards of publicly owned and publicly limited companies with over 50 employees have to have at least 40% of either gender represented.

Adversarial politics is a turn-off. It is not that we are not capable of dealing with it —

Photo of Paula Bradley Paula Bradley DUP

Will the Member give way?

Photo of Paula Bradley Paula Bradley DUP

Would the Member like some extra time?

Photo of Caitriona Ruane Caitriona Ruane Sinn Féin

I would love some extra time. Thank you very much. I was hoping that I would be asked that.

Adversarial politics is about intimidation and fear, and about creating that culture.

We women are not afraid of that. We are bored by it. We are put off by it. We do not want it. It is the same with other women out there, so I hear from all parties that we want real change. We need to take a hard look at how we do our job and how we need to put the report's recommendations into action.

At the current rate of change, it will take 250 years to bring about 50:50. That is not good enough. None of us wants that, so it is now time for men and women to get off the fence and take the side of gender equality. No more ifs, buts, excuses or explanations. Please, do not quote the merit principle at us. We are sick of the merit principle. Seán Rogers hit the nail on the head on that. Well done, Seán.

We know the extent of the problem. Let us now change it together.

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

As a new member of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, I welcome the report. Unfortunately, I joined the Committee only at the end of the process when we were going through the report, so I missed all the evidence sessions. There is quite a lot of reading in the report. I am surprised that we are here today, given that we debated for 10 or 15 minutes whether a word in the report should be a "should" or could be a "could". Given that we got down to that level of detail and agreement, there is not a party in the House that has not agreed with the Committee's work and its remit to try to bring about gender balance in the Assembly.

Einstein said:

“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.”

On the Committee for Employment and Learning, our studies and work on increasing women's participation in STEM subjects and the sciences reflects where we are.

The report is about attracting women into elected politics. Members have touched on the perception of politicians being old men in grey suits with grey hair. Sorry, Trevor, that is no reflection on you; I just happened to look at you. That is the same as the perception of scientists.

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

I will certainly give way.

Photo of Trevor Lunn Trevor Lunn Alliance

I just want to make sure that you get the extra minute.

[Laughter.]

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

We are all being very friendly today. Thank you.

As was mentioned, it is about role models in this place and in Northern Ireland society in general. There is a perception in Northern Ireland society, across even the whole island, about the paternal figure. That is a challenge that we face and a change that we must bring about not just in politics but in wider society.

I was glad to hear Caitríona talk about putting women into winnable seats. My party has definitely taken that on by putting Jo-Anne Dobson in as our candidate in Upper Bann. That is the plug. When that fact came out earlier, I saw the Committee Chair grinning to himself because he knew exactly what would be said from this end of the Chamber.

Our party takes the issue quite seriously. Ms Ruane mentioned that we are fed up hearing about the merit principle and being elected on only the merit principle. The Ulster Women's Unionist Council has firmly expressed the wish of our female members to be selected and elected on merit and on no other stance. That is why we created and work through our Dame Dehra Parker programme, which has been in place for quite some time. Dehra Parker was our MP for Londonderry for a long time, so we have always had elected women officials in here.

Part of the report and the discussion was about civil servants coming before Committees. The Committee thought that there could be a greater gender balance. As Chair of a Committee, I would far rather see the appropriate officials than civil servants being taken from their work to make sure that there is a gender balance.

That reflects what Mrs Dobson said about the case that she and Michael McGimpsey put forward that more should be done to promote women in the Northern Ireland Civil Service so that gender balance is not enforced but is there, and we had a cross-section of male and female permanent secretaries. We have been critical about the percentage breakdown of men and women in the Chamber. All our permanent secretaries are and have been men.

Photo of Paula Bradley Paula Bradley DUP

I thank the Member for bringing that up, because it is a very important point. We were talking about meritocracy and the merit principle, but the merit principle has been in for some time in the Civil Service, and yet we still have not seen that increase in women promoted to the top jobs. Would you comment on that?

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

The merit principle is there, but maybe the willingness to use it in some cases for promotion is the blockage within our Civil Service and is something that needs challenged.

In regard to encouraging women to be participants in active politics, as Mr Ross said, when we get down to community group level, women are the ones who are driving the community groups, the playgroups and everything else that we have in general society. That is where we are seeing the power of women. This place has a lot to do, and the parties in this House have a lot to do on top of the words in this report; they have a lot to do in how they portray themselves.

I do not want to break up the positive side of this report, but the issue is how parties interact with women and the general public. I reflect on the case of Maria Cahill and how she has been commented on and treated in social media. It is a discouragement to women when they see that sort of veiled attack coming from political parties.

Also, we talk about bringing women civil servants in front of Committees, but I despaired when I saw Jenny Palmer being brought in front of the Social Development Committee and nearly being left in tears by members. If that is how we treat women when we think they are behind the scenes, are not in the public sphere or are standing in here for those five or 10 minutes, that is where we are failing women. That is where we, as elected representatives, can take the extra step and make sure that those women have an opportunity. As was already said by other Members, female Members seem to be an easy target for some. We, as an organisation and a corporate body of elected representatives, should not be treating women like that.

Photo of Maeve McLaughlin Maeve McLaughlin Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. A lot of this has been said, but I would like to make a few comments as the only female MLA in Derry and Foyle. Given the population mass there, that is a challenge to other parties equally. My colleague Megan Fearon had hoped to speak today, but unfortunately she has a sore throat. I hope that I will give voice to her radical, progressive and hard work on the issue.

First of all, I congratulate the AERC. I am pleased that we are having the opportunity to have the debate, but the proof will be in the pudding, and we need to see the recommendations being advanced and delivered. I have a sense that society and the wider community will watch this one very closely.

We should acknowledge that this place, whilst far from perfect, has changed. I reflect on coming to this Assembly as a PA to another very formidable MLA, Mary Nelis, at a time when women candidates and women MLAs were almost hissed at during their contributions to debates. So, whilst we have not got it perfect, we should reflect on the fact that this place has come so far from where it was back in 1998.

Hopefully, we will have actions coming out of the recommendations. As a party, we changed our constitution to tackle and properly reflect gender representation. Those recommendations need to be both progressive and radical, and we need to reflect on other parliamentary structures. For example, if we look at the South African model, we see that 45% of the Parliament is made up of women. So, we have a long way to go.

In relation to the role that we have played, whilst we have to do more, as Caitríona Ruane said, five of the last six co-options for Sinn Féin were women, three out of our four MEPs are women, and we have three female Ministers. So, certainly there has been a heavy lift and a lot of work done, not only to ensure that women are part of the process but that they are active participants in leadership and decision-making processes.

There are two important points that have come out of this discussion. The media's representation of this place, the media's rush to our male leadership and the negativity that comes from certain elements of the media will put wider society — of course, I include women in that — off the whole notion of active participation in politics and this place.

There is a big lift there.

The bigger lift is within the leadership of the political parties. They have a responsibility to be proactive and radical in not only attracting female candidates but retaining them, and not in a tokenistic type of way but in a way that means that women actively participate in political leadership at the very top of structures.

I think that delivery will be key to these recommendations for our way forward. I also think that our society and community will monitor this one very closely.

Photo of Karen McKevitt Karen McKevitt Social Democratic and Labour Party

I am also delighted this afternoon to be able to speak on the review of women in politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly. I will begin by commending the Assembly and Executive Review Committee for undertaking this important and necessary review. I would like nothing more than to see more women of all ages and backgrounds entering politics. Indeed, the debate is very timely because, as has already been pointed out, yesterday we celebrated International Women's Day. I know that many women's organisations are keen to hear the recommendations that are outlined in the report.

The report makes a number of recommendations for the consideration of the political parties to increase female representation. The SDLP is certainly a female-friendly party, as demonstrated by the fact that we had the highest percentage of female candidates in the 2014 local government elections. However, we also acknowledge that we could do much more to reach 50% in female candidates and particularly to increase female representation in the Assembly and to ensure that more females hold high-profile positions.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the great work of my party colleague Nichola Mallon, who, during her current term as Lord Mayor of Belfast, has given young women the opportunity to shadow her as she carries out her mayoral duties. In doing so, Nichola has helped young females to consider politics as a career path.

The report outlines recommendations for the consideration of the Assembly and the Executive. Recommendation 15 refers to the establishment of:

"a working group on a gender sensitive parliament."

Indeed, a collective group of people will certainly be required to oversee and push many of the implementations that are needed for the many recommendations. Rather than a working group, I would have liked to see the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee. The Assembly and Executive Review Committee is to be applauded for the work that members and staff put in to the review. However, it already has many issues to address; therefore, it may not be possible for it to give its full attention to gender equality. I believe that the issue deserves full attention in 2015 going forward.

If an Ad Hoc Committee was established, its lifespan would run until there is 50% female participation in the Assembly. That would send a stronger message to women in our society that the Northern Ireland Assembly is serious about committing to gender equality. That Committee would then play a leading role in implementing the recommendations laid out in the review, such as the development of a gender action plan, the review of the voting mechanism for family-friendly sittings, the establishment of a women's parliamentary caucus and much more. If implemented, the recommendations in the report will bring us vastly closer to reaching our target for gender equality in politics, but we need to ensure that there is a powerful, authoritative body pushing the recommendations through.

If you want, I can add one further point. As a member of the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee, I have noticed the male dominance in the artwork in Parliament Buildings and around the grounds. We have the paintings of the late Rev Ian Paisley. Indeed, we have one of David Trimble and, of course, our own Seamus Mallon and Mark Durkan, to name but a few. On the drive to the "house on the hill", the statue of Carson is unmissable. We need to send a message about the role that women have played and, indeed, will continue to play in political life. We should have a permanent display of artwork or something to that effect that will complement the picture of Eileen Bell.

Photo of Raymond McCartney Raymond McCartney Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. First, I welcome the report. Indeed, I have been on the Assembly and Executive Review Committee since its inception a number of years ago, and I think that this will be seen as one of its better pieces of work.

I think that it is a comprehensive report, and I echo the sentiments of other Members about the quality of the research. I was not on any of the trips, but the feedback from the trips showed us how other institutions can tackle this problem. The research was not just about pointing out where inequalities existed but gave us templates for how things could be changed. I think that the report is very important and provides an excellent snapshot of where the Assembly now sits. I think that from reading it, it is fair to say that, while there are positive aspects of the work carried out here in the Assembly, we could and should be doing better. That is the task ahead.

The other strength of the report is that we can see from the research and particularly the recommendations where we should go next. I think that the report would not have the same meaning, effect or deep purpose if there was not provision for how we can tackle the issue. I think that the question of how we change is the most important thing for the Committee, as it should be for all the parties in the Assembly. There are very clear recommendations on what the Assembly can do to make the place more approachable and better for people with caring responsibilities. Various parties have outlined some of the measures and some of the steps that can and should be taken in relation to this, which is very important.

I also think that we have to be very mindful and very careful that we do not believe that nothing needs to be changed or that, if we continue to do what we are doing, we will have different outcomes. If we do believe that, we are certainly deluding ourselves. Alastair Ross made the point that the population make-up is around 50:50, yet, when you look across many, many sectors — the Assembly is no different — you see a lower percentage of women. That has to put us in a position where we are asking questions. I do not think that you can retreat into the position where you say that it is all down to merit and that merit dictates it; that is too simplistic.

I think that we all know that, in certain institutions and with certain cultural values, you can use merit as a cover for prevailing and dominant views. Indeed, the Lord Chief Justice has been in front of our Justice Committee, and, particularly at senior level, the legal profession has a complete predominance of men. I think that he took the approach that, while he knows that people can retreat into saying that it is down to merit, there are certain procedures in place that can skew merit in a particular way. He invited the Committee to invite him back in a number of years, and he said that, if he had not changed that, he would be open to criticism. I think that that is the type of approach that we have to take, because, where there is an obvious bias and an obvious inequality, it is appropriate to take steps. Other people in other institutions in other places have done that and done it quite successfully. I think that people who try to defend the merit principle are frightened of positive and affirmative action. I do not think affirmative action in any undermines anybody's position, particularly —

Photo of Trevor Lunn Trevor Lunn Alliance

I thank the Member for giving way. It allows me to correct the statement that I made earlier about co-options. The 14 co-options were in the last mandate, 2007 to 2011. Will the Member agree with me and encourage other parties to use the co-option process in the way that Sinn Féin appears to have done as a means of redressing the balance overall?

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

The Member has an extra minute.

Photo of Raymond McCartney Raymond McCartney Sinn Féin

I think that every measure possible should be taken. I can say now that we had a very successful ard-fheis at the weekend in Derry. Where else to hold it, and why would it not be success? Our ard-chomhairle, or national executive, if you like, is made up by a quota. There is an open election by the membership, but we have to elect six men and six women. That is the type of thing that has done Sinn Féin no harm. Indeed, I could sit here and say that perhaps that is a good way to be because, after all, we are the largest party on the island of Ireland. Sometimes, positive and affirmative action can lead to positive and affirmative outcomes.

My general point is that it is very important to say that, if we retreat into old arguments, we will end up doing the same thing again.

We have to be positive; we have to look at all the measures that have been outlined in the report. Parties have to be bold. The position that Trevor Lunn outlined is also the way to do it. Where opportunities present themselves, we can be imaginative and innovative and have a very positive outcome as a result.

Photo of Claire Sugden Claire Sugden Independent 1:30, 9 March 2015

I was giving off on Twitter, saying that I was going to be timed out and said "oh the irony" of that, but anyway. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the review of women in politics, and, like many others, I note the importance of the debate on the day after International Women's Day. To pay my respects to the women in East Londonderry, Northern Ireland and across the world, I will quote a post from the timeline of another fantastic woman and Northern Ireland Assembly colleague Judith Cochrane. She said:

"Here's to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them."

Women in politics are entirely necessary, not as a token, not as an antidote to men, not as colour in a sea of grey suits, but in our own right as capable representatives of half the population in Northern Ireland and across the world. I commend the instigators of the review because of the gross disproportion of women in this House. I am, however, somewhat disappointed with the recommendations. Generally, I support the messages, but I do not feel that they go far enough. I do not feel that there are specific targets, a time frame or rigour to ensure that it happens. It worries me that this will be just another tokenistic report.

I will, however, focus on one area of the report. It is the —

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

Will the Member give way?

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

What sort of targets would she like to have seen? Can she give us a specific idea?

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

The Member has an extra minute. You are not timed out.

Photo of Claire Sugden Claire Sugden Independent

I will come to that in my next point. One of the areas that the report focused on was the responsibility of the political parties to encourage women in politics. The Northern Ireland Assembly is a party house, and enhancing the participation of women in politics cannot happen without genuine leadership from the political parties — leadership that goes beyond mechanisms to ensure more women are selected for candidacy and the entire approach of politics. Today, we are aware of yet another merry dance of old, stale politics between the two main parties. How many women — how many women and men — will become involved in politics because of that? This House needs to get its act together to stop the rot of people turning off from politics so that we can encourage more young people and women into politics.

Women need to support women. I do not like to say that we are the fairer sex because we are much better than that; we are the fantastic sex. We are fantastic in that we hold ourselves to such high standards. I heard recently from a woman that females should be concerned only with business and not necessarily how they look. I say do both if that is what you want to do. A leader is not necessarily a woman in a suit; it is a woman not afraid to wear a dress and own it.

Men also need to support women. I was asked this morning about how my male colleagues treat me in the House, and I must admit that I have not really witnessed much of that nonsense, but, let us face it, that hostility is their insecurity, not mine, so I do not really pay much attention to it anyway.

My last point is that I will stand here and say that I am a feminist. Feminism is not about criticising men or about getting one over on men; it is about equality. It is brave, but, my goodness, is it necessary. So, in the last few seconds — maybe I do have a minute — I will ask how many Members — in particular, men — will use the opportunity of an intervention in my contribution to stand up and say that they are a feminist? Not one. OK.

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

I am a feminist.

[Laughter.]

Photo of Stephen Moutray Stephen Moutray DUP

As Chair of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, I rise to make the closing remarks on this debate on the report, 'Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly'. I do not propose to summarise all Members' contributions to the debate; they speak for themselves and will be available in the Hansard report. However, what I have heard today indicates that what this report has identified as key barriers and challenges need to be addressed with robust actions to encourage more women into politics.

The Assembly, political parties and the Executive cannot truly deliver for all their citizens if half the population remains underrepresented in the political arena. The participation of women in politics and government is essential to building and sustaining peace and democracy.

As you have heard in the Chamber today and in the conclusions of this report, women face abundant barriers. Institutional barriers such as adversarial style of politics and unfriendly working hours; socio-cultural barriers such as childcare and caring responsibilities; political barriers such as the selection processes; and psychological barriers faced by individual women.

As noted in the report, and as we heard today, the Committee considered and put forward recommendations aiming to remove these barriers, including the establishment of a women's parliamentary caucus; a review of the voting times in the plenary sitting; greater engagement with young women and schoolgirls; and recommendations for political parties to review their membership and candidate selection strategies.

Increasing the number of women in politics will require the recommendations of this report to be turned into meaningful actions by the Assembly, political parties and Departments to address the lack of women in politics in Northern Ireland. With a joined-up approach, it can be achieved.

Finally, in the words of Madeleine Albright, Chairperson of the National Democratic Institute:

"Every country deserves to have the best possible leader and that means that women have to be given a chance to compete. If they’re never allowed to compete in the electoral process then the countries are really robbing themselves of a great deal of talent."

I believe that the Northern Ireland Assembly, political parties and the Executive should strive to ensure that women get the chance to compete.

The Assembly and Executive Review Committee now request that the Assembly approve the Committee's report.

Question put and agreed to. Resolved:

That this Assembly approves the report of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee on its Review of Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly [NIA 224/11-16].