A LOCAL GOVERNMENT Bill set to be published before the end of the year will set quotas on the amount of people from diverse backgrounds that political parties put forward in local elections.

The Irish Examiner is reporting today that the Minister of state for local government and electoral reform, John Paul Phelan, is working on the legislation ahead of next year’s local elections.

Political parties could be forced to fill 40% of their nominations with women, migrants and people from ethnic minorities under the new measures.

The parties would reportedly lose funding if they fail to meet the quotas.

Currently around one in five councillors are women and the National Women’s Council of Ireland has repeatedly called for quotas to be introduced.

The news was welcomed by the Immigrant Council of Ireland which said that political parties need to do more to engage people from migrant backgrounds.

“Huge untapped appetite. Knowledge of voting and running rights [is the] first step,” it said on Twitter.

What do you think: Should quotas be introduced in local elections?