Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 2 Jul 1996

Vol. 467 No. 7

Written Answers. - Gender Balance on County Enterprise Boards.

Mary Wallace

Ceist:

339 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment his views on the maintenance of a gender balance on the county enterprise boards; if his attention has been drawn to the steps taken at the initiation of the boards with regard to gender balance and to the fact that the board membership was specifically increased to allow for gender balance; the steps, if any, he has taken to ensure that there is an ongoing policy with regard to gender balance on county enterprise boards; and if he will ensure that it has been made clear that a reduction in gender balance on these boards is unacceptable, particularly in view of the importance attached to this issue in the Programme for Government. [14350/96]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

Membership of the county enterprise boards is drawn from panels of elected members of local authorities and from representatives of the social partners, State agencies and local business and community interests in accordance with the memorandum and articles of association of each board.

In May 1993, my predecessor drew the attention of every city and county manager, who had been given the task of nominating the initial members to the boards to the Government's objective of achieving a minimum of 40 per cent of men and women among the initial nominees to the boards. As the initial nomination procedure failed to secure a satisfactory gender balance in board membership at that time, my predecessor took positive remedial action to counteract the scarcity of women nominated to the boards by increasing the number of members on the boards from 12 to 14. The wider canvass undertaken to encourage women with business experience to participate in the work of the boards has helped, in my view, to tap the significant potential of local employment initiatives for women. As the Deputy will be aware, under the operating agreement signed between my Department and each county enterprise board, each board is required to ensure that its activities comply with and, where appropriate, help to promote Government and European Union policy objectives and legislation on equal opportunities for men and women.

Responsibility for appointment of members of the boards rest with each board in accordance with its memorandum and articles of association. While the CEBs are expected to take note of Government policy on gender balancing, the selective application of the gender balance requirement to nominations from a particular nominating body is not consistent with Government policy in relation to the representational character of the CEBs nor is there any requirement that a nominating body which previously nominated a woman should automatically nominate another woman.