In Episode 1 of Season 2, Senator Barry Ward talks gender quotas in business and the Irish Corporate Governance (Gender Balance) Bill 2021 with Fine Gael TD for Dublin Mid-West, Emer Higgins, and Orla O’Connor, Director of the National Women’s Council. This episode covers gender quotas, how they will work for boards of Irish companies, how to address gender imbalance and whether gender quotas are a fair approach.


Emer Higgins is a Fine Gael TD for Dublin Mid-West and former Chief of Staff, Global Operations, Europe, for PayPal. You can follow Emer Higgins TD on Twitter @EmerHigginsTD, on Instagram @emerhigginstd, on Facebook at EmerHigginsTD, on LinkedIn, or on her web site: www.emerhiggins.com.


Orla O’Connor is Director of the National Women’s Council, the leading national women’s membership organisation in Ireland, with over 190-member groups. She was Co-Director of Together For Yes, the national Civil Society Campaign to remove the 8th Amendment in the referendum. For her role in Together for Yes, Orla was recognised as one of the 100 Most Influential People by TIME magazine in 2019. A feminist and expert in the policies needed to progress women’s equality in Ireland, Orla has led numerous high level, successful campaigns on a wide range of issues on women’s rights, including social welfare reform, pension reform and for the introduction of quality and affordable childcare. Orla is passionate about ensuring access to women’s reproductive rights; about ensuring more women are in leadership positions; about ending violence against women; and increasing women’s economic equality. You can follow Orla O’Connor on Twitter @OrlaNWCI or find out more on the National Women’s Council’s web site. You can follow the National Women’s Council on Twitter @NWCI, on Instagram @womens_council_ireland, on Facebook @NationalWomensCouncilofIreland, and on its web site.



The Irish Legislation Podcast is presented by Senator Barry Ward. Follow Barry on Twitter @barrymward; Instagram @barrym_ward; Facebook at BarryWard.ie; or his web site: www.barryward.ie.



E-mail barry.ward@oireachtas.ie with any comments or suggestions.