Frances Fitzgerald
Question:373 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the reason the 40 per cent quota of women members was not adhered to in the recent appointment of the energy advisory board. [524/94]
Written Answers. - Energy Advisory Board Appointments.
The Energy Advisory Board is a non-statutory advisory committee of technical experts in the energy conservation field who were nominated by their respective organisations for appointment. In accepting the nominations proffered to me, I was conscious of the specialised nature of the expertise required and of the relatively confined pool of public sector and other organisations from which the membership was drawn. I wish to point out that an interim, informal grouping of six of these experts was in place for some time and was instrumental in the formulation of policy in relation to the new Irish Energy Centre. My announcement during the recent National Energy Awareness Week merely formalised that pre-existing arrangement and expanded on it by the addition of four new members. I am particularly pleased that Ms Rosemary Steen of IBEC is one of those four additional members.