Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 28 Apr 1993

Vol. 429 No. 7

Written Answers. - Women on Semi-State Boards.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

53 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs 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.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

The two agencies which operate under the aegis of the Minister for Foreign Affairs are the Agency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO) and the Refugee Agency.

The Board of the Refugee Agency consists of a chairperson and representatives of seven Government Departments. Fifty per cent of the eight board members are women. Of four additional observer members appointed by the Minister to the current board, two are women.

Four of the eleven members of the board of APSO are women, which is just under 40 per cent of the membership. In making appointments to the board as vacancies arise, I will bear in mind the Government's commitment to ensure that a minimum of 40 per cent of the members appointed to the boards of State bodies should be women.