Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 October 2021
450. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the number of State boards under the remit of her Department or its agencies in tabular form; the number of members of each board; the number of women on each board; and the percentage of each board that is made up of women. [49564/21]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, selection processes for appointments to State boards are now supported by the Public Appointments Service. The Deputy will be aware that the State boards process is designed to enable any person to apply for a position on a State board. My Department regularly advertises positions for appointment to State boards on www.stateboards.ie.
In making appointments to State boards, my Department and agencies under the remit of my Department, ensures compliance with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (2016), and pays particular attention to its recent Annex on Gender Balance, Diversity and Inclusion (2020), in addition to the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards (2015).
It is worth noting that many of the bodies in the justice sector were established on foot of primary legislation; where such legislation provides specific gender balance requirements, my Department ensures compliance. A number of boards have ex officio positions which may require to be held by particular office holders. I can assure the Deputy that I am personally committed to achieving full gender balance on boards across the justice sector.
The information requested by the Deputy in respect of the composition of board memberships of the bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out below in tabular format.
|
State Board/Body |
Number of members of the board |
Gender-breakdown of the board |
Gender-breakdown: % |
|
Classification of Films Appeal Board |
6 |
3 women3 men |
50% women50% men |
|
Censorship of Publications Board |
4 |
3 women1 man |
75% women25% men |
|
Courts Service Board |
18 |
11 women7 men |
61% women 39% men |
|
Garda Síochána Inspectorate |
2 |
1 woman 1 man |
50% women50% men |
|
Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) |
3 |
2 women 1 man |
67% women 33% men |
|
International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) |
53 |
26 women 27 men |
49% women 51% men |
|
Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) |
10 |
5 women 5 men |
50% women50% men |
|
Legal Aid Board (LAB) |
13 |
7 women 6 men |
54% women46% men |
|
Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) |
9 |
5 women 4 men |
55% women 45% men |
|
Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board |
4 |
3 women1 man |
75% women25% men |
|
Parole Board |
13 |
6 women 7 men |
46% women54% men |
|
Policing Authority |
9 |
4 women5 men |
44% women 56% men |
|
Private Security Authority (PSA) |
11 |
2 women9 men |
18% women82% men |
|
Private Security Appeal Board (PSAB) |
1 |
0 women1 man |
0% women100% men |
|
Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) |
11 |
7 women4 men |
64% women36% men |
|
Property Services Appeal Board (PSAB) |
4 |
2 women 2 men |
50% women 50% male |
