The programme for Government includes a commitment to take steps to ensure that all State boards have at least 40% of each gender. Nine of the 17 bodies funded from my Department's Vote group that currently have boards in place have already reached that target. I have developed an implementation plan to reaffirm and achieve the target of 40% of each gender on the remaining boards and will be working with all bodies to move towards 45% of each gender as the new target for gender equality. It may be noted, however, that in a number of boards certain appointments are made other than by way of Government or ministerial appointment, for example, on foot of nominations by other bodies, by way of elections or on an ex officio basis. Clearly, such circumstances can have an influence on the gender balance of the boards in question. I can assure the Deputy, however, that I am fully committed to further promoting gender equality across all of the bodies and agencies funded from my Department's Vote.
The general scheme of the national cultural institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill sets out that the Minister shall, to the greatest extent possible, ensure that there is an equitable balance between men and women in the membership of the board. As the Deputy will appreciate, there is a number of different ways in which this issue can be reflected in legislation and I remain open to considering, in the drafting of the text of the Bill, how best to deliver on this commitment to gender balance.
In general terms, the purpose of the Bill is to establish the National Concert Hall, NCH, as a statutory body and to put in place a governance framework that will provide for appropriate reporting and accounting to the Minister and onwards to the Oireachtas. The legislation must stand the test of time, enabling the NCH to fulfil its functions to promote and encourage the performance of music to the highest standards regardless of what Minister is in place.
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It is important to emphasise that artistic policy at the national cultural institutions has never been nor ever will be the remit of the Minister and this is guaranteed in the draft legislation currently being prepared. The general scheme provides that the Minister may issue general policy directions on matters such as pay policy and staffing but not artistic or curatorial matters. It also sets out the Minister's role in the statement of strategy and in the approval of staffing and borrowing by the NCH, among other things. I do not consider that these proposed provisions are an inappropriate intrusion into the business of the NCH, especially in the context of the significant level of State funding being provided to it. Indeed, they are broadly reflective of the approach to corporate governance adopted in other legislation enacted in recent years.
I am, of course, aware that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, of which the Deputy is a member, is currently engaged in pre-legislative scrutiny on the general scheme of the Bill. These issues will, no doubt, form part of the committee's considerations and I look forward to receiving its report in due course and to the further debate which will take place on these and other matters as the Bill proceeds through the legislative process.
