Brendan Smith
Question:13 Mr. B. Smith asked the Taoiseach the current position regarding the appointment of the nominee of the National Youth Council to the National Economic and Social Council. [6650/96]
Written Answers. - Appointment of NYCI Nominee to NESC.
In response to parliamentary questions on this issue on 14 November 1995, and again on 14 February 1996, I explained the situation regarding the nominee of the National Youth Council of Ireland to the National Economic and Social Council.
I am not refusing to accept a nomination from the NYCI to the NESC, rather I have requested that it nominates a female to the council. The NYCI has had a nominee on the NESC for the past 12 years, and this nominee has always been a male. It is Government policy to have at least 40 per cent of both men and women in appointments to State boards and the Government has requested all of the social partners to observe this gender balance in making nominations to the NESC. The other social partners have made efforts to enhance the proportion of women in their representation on the council. I accept the difficulty that an organisation which only has one representative may have with this Government policy, however, as the representative from NYCI has always been male, I decided to request them to nominate a female representative for this term of the NESC.
In an endeavour to ease any difficulties they may be having, I indicated, last October, to the NYCI that I would accept them nominating a male alternate, if they nominate a female as their member of the council. To date the NYCI have not accepted this suggestion.