Vol. 426 No. 1
2 Mr. Allen asked the Taoiseach if he will give details of the appointments made in November and December, 1992 and January, 1993 to State boards under his aegis; the names of those appointed; and the boards to which they have been appointed.
The number of appointments made to State boards under the aegis of my Department during the period November 1992 to January 1993 was 11. Following is a list of those appointees and the boards to which they were appointed.
|
Board |
Name of Appointee |
Date of Appointment |
|
Irish Manuscripts Commission |
Dr. Mary Daly |
10 November 1992 |
|
Dr. Mary O'Dowd |
10 November 1992 |
|
|
Dr. Anngret Simms |
10 November 1992 |
|
|
Profesor D.W. Harkness |
10 November 1992 |
|
|
(re-appointment) |
||
|
Professor J.F.M. Lydon |
10 November 1992 |
|
|
(re-appointment) |
||
|
Professor D. MacCartney |
10 November 1992 |
|
|
(re-appointment) |
||
|
Professor G. Mac Niocaill |
10 November 1992 |
|
|
(re-appointment) |
||
|
National Library of Ireland |
Mr. Barry Murphy |
10 November 1992 |
|
Council of Trustees |
Mr. John Grey |
10 November 1992 |
|
Irish Film Board |
Mr. Richard Stokes |
30 November 1992 |
|
Mr. Richard O'Grady |
30 November 1992 |
May I ask the Taoiseach how many appointees were women and how many were men?
The appointments were made to the Irish Manuscripts Commission and the National Library of Ireland because the Commissioner of the National Library was pressing to have them made. Out of the seven, four of the appointments to The National Library were those suggested by the Director of the National Library and no political considerations arose. As regards the Irish Film board, which was the other making up the 11 appointments, the——
How many were women?
The Deputy should wait for the information.
Was it as bad as the Seanad Eleven?
As regards the Irish Film board, the changes were from civil servants to Civil Service because of the change of duties.
How many were women?
I have not got that information on file but I would be glad to supply it to the Deputy.
Can the Taoiseach indicate whether a single one of those appointees was a woman and does he actually know who has been appointed to boards under his aegis?
The Deputy can be assured that I am fully aware of who has been appointed and I will gladly let him have the details this afternoon — they are not on the file.
No. 3, Deputy De Rossa's question.
May I ask one question?
Please, Deputies, there is a certain amount of information supplied in the Official Report which the Members ought to see.
The question asked the Taoiseach the names of those appointed. Is the Taoiseach telling us that from the list of names he has in front of him he does not know whether the appointees are men or women or does he not recognise whether they are men or women, or does he not remember?
This is leading to argument.
It is a straightforward question.
I want to bring in Deputy Harney.
The Taoiseach is having a gender problem.
The Deputy will appreciate that if an initial is down for a name with no other abbreviation that there could be——
The Taoiseach does not know who he appointed.
As I have said, the information will be conveyed to the Deputy this afternoon.
Deputy Mary Harney.
Did the Taoiseach not ask the full names of the people he was appointing to these positions?
Of course.
Deputy Mary Harney has been called. Deputy Shatter will now resume his seat.
This is political optics.
Deputy Shatter will desist from any further interruptions——
There are no political appointees involved so the Deputy should not worry about that.
This is a total farce. Can the Taoiseach confirm that none of the appointees was a woman and, secondly, in view of the commitment in the programme for Government can he tell us who will gender proof his future nominations to ensure that women have a fair chance of being nominated to State boards?
The Deputy need have no fears in this regard. On my initiative last week the Cabinet decided on procedures as to how the whole impact on policies would be dealt with.
