Vol. 464 No. 1
45 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Finance the reason he has failed to adhere to the Government's commitment on gender balance when appointing task forces and review groups as stated by him in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 15 February 1996. [7687/96]
The Government commitment on gender balance, which sets out the objective of achieving a minimum of 40 per cent of both men and women on State boards, does not, in certain circumstances, apply to the type of bodies referred to by the Deputy, e.g., where the appointees need to be holders of certain posts, where the membership is determined by outside organisations represented on the body or on the basis of specific technical expertise or where a sufficient number of qualified men or women are not available to serve.
In the case of the bodies referred to by me in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 15 February 1996, there was no one body over which I had exclusive control of the appointment of the membership. A number of those bodies had members appointed by outside organisations, including other Government Departments and offices and trade unions. I am satisfied that those appointed to the bodies concerned were appointed because of their specific experience or because of the offices which they hold. Given the circumstances in which the 40 per cent gender quota may be departed from I am satisfied that there was no breach of the Government commitment to gender balance.
