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Appointments to State Boards

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Questions (447)

John McGuinness

Question:

447. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Transport the efforts his Department is making to achieve gender balance on all State boards and agencies under the remit of his Department; if he will set out the changes achieved to date on each; if 50% of the membership of all boards, policy groups or agencies that provide advice to Government on matters of policy will be reserved for appropriately qualified individuals from the private sector in order to achieve a balance between the public and private sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20736/21]

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Written answers

My Department fully supports the requirements outlined in the Annex to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016 on Gender Balance, Diversity and Inclusion published in September 2020. For all board appointments to agencies under the remit of my Department, completed through the PAS process, the current gender composition of a Board is highlighted when making an appointment/re-appointment. As part of the process my Department actively engages with Chairs to promote better gender balance on State Boards, including discussing gender balance and skills mix.

Where boards are predominantly male, a greater emphasis is put on attracting female candidates. Agencies under my Department's remit are aware of the Gender Balance requirement and proactively promote awareness through websites, social media and advertising campaigns. I am a strong advocate of diversity on State Boards and actively encourage diversity of all types at recruitment stage. My Department monitors its progress on gender balance in the yearly returns required under the Annex. For agencies under my Department’s remit the current gender balance is 66% male and 34% female.

The system for State Boards appointments is operated by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) and applies to all State Boards both commercial and non-commercial. Since 2014, all vacancies/positions on State boards are advertised openly on the State Boards portal www.stateboards.ie and thereby available to appropriately qualified individuals from all sectors including private and public sector.

Information relating to board appointments for agencies under my Department's remit is available here on stateboards.ie and here on my Department’s website.

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