Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
504. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of State boards under the remit of his Department or its agencies; the total number of members of each board; the numbers on each board broken down according to gender; and the number of persons with a declared disability on each board in tabular form. [41393/22]
View answerEnhanced gender diversity on State Boards is a long standing commitment of Government and is also important in terms of enhancing the effectiveness of State Boards. I am strongly committed to building on the progress made in recent years in this regard.
The Deputy may be aware that in September 2020 I published an Annex to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. The Annex deals with Gender Balance, Diversity and Inclusion. Provisions included in this Annex are specifically aimed at improving diversity on State Boards such as reducing the Board terms and facilitating greater turnover of Board members.
In addition, the annual Chairperson's comprehensive report to the relevant Minister must set out progress being made in addressing gender equality and diversity issues; where the Board stands vis-à-vis the 40% gender balance requirements; measures being taken to address where the 40% requirements are not met; and specifically measures being taken to address the situation where a Board is either all male or all female.
Most importantly each Board should carry out an annual self-assessment evaluation and this process should incorporate a detailed analysis and critical assessment of the gender, diversity and skills mix within the board, including where relevant a critical assessment of the reasons why gender balance in Board membership has not yet been achieved.
The information requested by the Deputy regarding the State Boards under the remit of my Department and the bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out below. The Deputy should note that no member of the Boards detailed below have declared a disability, given that the declaration of a disability is voluntary.
|
Number of Current Members |
Female Board Members |
Male Board Members |
|
|
Data Governance Board |
11 |
5 |
6 |
|
Bodies under the aegis |
|||
|
Public Appointments Service |
7 |
5 |
2 |
|
National Shared Services Office |
8 |
4 |
4 |
