Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 October 2023
227. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if the employment policy of the Civil Service supports the implementation of gender quotas when hiring new staff; if so, the steps that have been taken to implement such a policy from 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43281/23]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my Department has policy responsibility for recruitment policy in the civil service. As reflected in the Civil Service Renewal 2024 Strategy, the civil service is strongly committed to equality of opportunity for all in terms of its recruitment and employment practices, and building a more diverse and inclusive workforce that is reflective of Ireland and the people it serves.
With respect to the implementation of gender quotas for hiring new staff, in 2018, Government approved a policy for TLAC competitions in support of a goal of attaining a 50/50 gender balance on Management Boards. Where candidates compete for such positions and are of equal merit at the final stage of a competition, priority is given to the female candidate should that gender be underrepresented on the Management Board of the Department/Office in question.
Significant progress has been made in appointment females to the most senior levels in the civil service:
Percentage Female Representation in Senior Grades
|
Grade |
1997 |
2007 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Secretary General |
5% |
19% |
32% |
40% |
|
Assistant Secretary General |
10% |
19% |
43% |
44% |
|
Principal Officer |
12% |
26% |
48% |
50% |
|
Assistant Principal |
24% |
33% |
53% |
54% |
The Public Appointments Service (PAS), which is a body under the aegis of my Department, is the primary recruiter for the civil service and some parts of the public service. PAS is committed to recruiting a diverse workforce with the skills and attributes to meet the future challenges of the public service. Three key areas of focus include:
• better knowledge and understanding of who works in our civil service,
• creating more inclusive and equitable processes for all candidates, and
• leading by example in creating and encouraging their clients to foster more inclusive work places.
Several pieces of work are underway that will support underrepresented groups in general to access opportunities in the civil and public sector. A key priority is to develop a data driven, evidence-based diversity profile of candidates throughout the recruitment process. To achieve this priority PAS commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to review their equality data including data related to gender. As part of the project, the ESRI assessed the robustness of their equality data by conducting a ‘health check’ and analysed data relating to over 1,000 competitions across the civil and public service (over 2019-2021).
In addition to a gender balance policy on interview boards, all interview board members are fully briefed before sitting on an interview board and all members are required to undertake interview training including unconscious bias training, to highlight the impact bias can have on decision making during recruitment.
