Written Answers. - Gender Representations in the Civil Service.
Liz McManus
Question:
30
Ms McManus
asked the
Minister for Finance
if his attention has been drawn to the recent report on Equal Opportunities in the Civil Service which shows that women in the Civil Service are still largely tied to lower grades and that 80 per cent of staff in the lowest clerical grades are women; if, in the light of these figures, he intends to have any discussions with other Government Departments with a view to ending the inequality and moving towards fair gender representation at all Civil Service levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Yes, I am aware of the report, which was indeed prepared by my Department. However, I would not accept that "Women ... are tied to lower grades", neither would I accept that the current gender imbalance in the profile of the general service grades in the Civil Service indicates any inequality of treatment.
Promotion and recruitment competitions held for appointments in the Civil Service are open to both men and women. Advertisements and circulars announcing external and internal competitions indicate clearly that the Civil Service is committed to a policy of equal opportunity.
Members of interview boards convened by the Civil Service Commission are briefed on the civil service policy in relation to equality of opportunity and in addition are provided with written guidelines stating the policy in relation to the conducting of interviews.
Statistics relating to the candidature and outcome of recruitment and promotion competitions and membership of interview boards are collected by my Department from the Civil Service Commission and from each Government Department. The information is analysed by my Department, in consultation with the Civil Service unions and is contained in the annual report to which the Deputy has referred.
As the Deputy will be aware from the report, the statistics to date give no indication of gender bias in selection for appointments in the Civil Service, either on recruitment or promotion. The results show that, in general, women are at least as successful as men in promotion competitions.
Of course, I am anxious to achieve a better gender balance at senior levels and I believe that significant progress has been made in this direction. As stated in a reply to Deputy McDowell a few weeks go, of those serving at managerial level in the main general service grades, more than 25 per cent are women. The fact that women now represent more than 50 per cent of the Executive Officer grade, which is one of the chief grades from which future higher civil servants will be drawn, is a significant step towards achieving a greater balance further up the ranks.
In relation to having discussions with other Government Departments, discussions with Departments and with the unions on equality issues are ongoing and have been for many years. Policy and guidelines on equal opportunities for the Civil Service were published in July 1986 and distributed to all Departments. They provide a statement of basic principles on which the ongoing development of an equality policy is based.
The implementation of the equal opportunities policy in the Civil Service is looked after by the equality section in my Department in close consultation with the Civil Service unions. A union-management committee on equal opportunities meets monthly to monitor the general implementation of equality policy and to discuss issues as they arise.
