Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 28 Apr 1993

Vol. 429 No. 7

Written Answers. - Women on Semi-State Boards.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

42 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform if he will give a list of the semi-State boards under his aegis where the 40 per cent quota of women has been adhered to by the Government since it accepted the recommendations of the first statement of the Commission on the Status of Women in April 1991; and if he will further list the boards where the quota has fallen below 40 per cent.

Minister for Equality and Law Reform (Mr. Taylor)

As indicated in a reply to a question on 6 April, 1993, the Government, in line with the Programme for a Partnership Government, has decided to establish a minimum of 40 per cent representation of each gender in direct appointments to the boards of semi-state bodies.

This decision is in line with the recommendation of the Commission on the Status of Women in this regard.

The situation with regard to the boards of the semi-State bodies operating under the aegis of my Department, that is, the Employment Equality Agency and the Legal Aid Board, both of which I inherited when I became Minister for Equality and Law Reform, is as follows, viz.,

Employment Equality Agency

The board comprises a Chairman and ten ordinary members. The nominating bodies are the Irish Business and Employers Federation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Council for the Status of Women, and myself as Minister for Equality and Law Reform. All appointments are made by me.

Nine of the members of the board, including the Chairman, are women.

There are two vacancies on the board of the EEA that have arisen since I became Minister for Equality and Law Reform. I shall be appointing replacements to those vacancies.

Legal Aid Board

The board comprises a Chairman and 12 ordinary members. The nominating bodies are the Ministers for Social Welfare and Finance and myself as Minister for Equality and Law Reform. All appointments to the board are made by me.

All of the members of the board are men.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

51 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Taoiseach if he will give a list of the semi-State boards under his aegis where the 40 per cent quota of women has been adhered to by the Government since it accepted the recommendations of the first statement of the Commission on the Status of Women in April 1991; and if he will further list the boards where the quota has fallen below 40 per cent.

The Taoiseach

The National Economic and Social Council is the only such board under the aegis of my Department. Of the five independent members on the council nominated by the Government, two are women. This in effect corresponds to the 40 per cent representation by women which the Commission on the Status of Women has generally recommended as a minimum representation on State boards.

As I pointed out in this House on 30 March 1993, in reply to a similar question, all the social partners represented on the NESC represent, among their members, both men and women but it is a matter for them whom they nominate to represent them on the NESC.