Vol. 486 No. 6
337 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science the guidelines, if any, which have been given to Dublin City University regarding gender balance for appointments to, or composition of, its governing body under section 16(10) of the Universities Act, 1977. [3276/98]
Section 16(10) of the Universities Act, 1997, obliges each governing authority to ensure that each sex is represented on its governing authority in accordance with such gender balance as may from time to time be determined or approved by the Minister for Education and Science.
Recognising the primary statutory responsibility vested in the universities in relation to the composition of the individual governing authorities and cognisant of the range of circumstances pertaining in the individual universities, I chose not to specify a gender balance of any specific proportion in the context of the composition of the first governing authorities under the Act. Instead I invited the individual universities, including Dublin City University, to forward their proposals on the question of gender balance. The composition of the governing authorities has been finalised in the case of three universities and I have approved the gender balance achieved in these three instances. In each case there has been a significant improvement in female representation over the previous governing authority. Furthermore, I have requested the incoming governing authorities to consider what steps are necessary to achieve a gender balance of 40 per cent in the context of the subsequent governing authorities.
