Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 12 Mar 1997

Vol. 476 No. 3

Written Answers. - Departmental Policies.

Helen Keogh

Ceist:

181 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Defence the nominating bodies to each board under the aegis of his Department; the number of seats to which each of these bodies nominate; and the guidelines or instructions given to nominating bodies to assist in achieving gender balance in line with Government policy. [6973/97]

Minister for Defence (Mr. Barrett)

There are no nominating bodies in respect of boards which come under the aegis of the Department.

Helen Keogh

Ceist:

182 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Defence the mechanisms used by his Department to ensure that policies, programmes and decisions are proofed to assess their impact on women; the training available to those officials responsible for gender proofing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7005/97]

Helen Keogh

Ceist:

183 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Defence the initiatives, if any, taken by his Department in 1995 and 1996 which were targeted at women; the budget allocated to each initiative; the actual amount spent on each; the budget for his Department in each of the years 1995 and 1996; and the amount of that budget exclusive of direct staffing and overhead costs. [7021/97]

Minister for Defence (Mr. Barrett)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 182 and 183 together.

In October 1996 I announced that women would be eligible to enlist in the Naval Service for the first time. Women are now eligible to join all areas of the Permanent Defence Force on an equal basis with men. It is not possible to give a costing for this initiative.

The Defence Estimate for the years 1995 and 1996 was £373.662 million and £385.4 million respectively. Personnel costs, inclusive of civil servants, civilian employees, members of the Defence Forces and the Reserve, accounted for approximately 80 per cent of the allocation in each year. There is no formal proofing of programmes or decisions to assess their impact on women. However the recently published strategy statement states that the policy of the Department of Defence is that in the management of its human resources it will accord all staff equality of opportunity and treatment.

Helen Keogh

Ceist:

184 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for the Marine the nominating bodies to each board under the aegis of his Department; the number of seats to which each of these bodies nominate; and the guidelines or instructions given to nominating bodies to assist in achieving gender balance in line with Government policy. [6974/97]

Minister for Defence (Mr. Barrett)

The boards under the aegis of my Department in respect of which specified bodies may nominate board members are harbour authorities under the Harbours Acts, 1946 to 1976 and port companies under the Harbours Act, 1996. Details of the bodies concerned and the number of members they may nominate are set out in the following tables.

Harbour Authorities

Harbour Authority	Nominating Body	Number of persons nominated
Annagassan	Louth County Council	4
Arklow	Wicklow County Council	2
	Arklow UDC	2
	Arklow Chamber of Commerce	2
Ballyshannon	Donegal County Council	4
Baltimore and	Cork County Council	2
Skibbereen	Skibbereen UDC	2
Bantry Bay	Cork County Council	2
	Bantry Town Commissioners	2
	Bantry Chamber of Commerce	2
Buncrana	Donegal County Council	2
	Buncrana UDC	2
Dingle	Kerry County Council	4
Dundalk	Louth County Council	2
	Dundalk UDC	2
	Dundalk Chamber of Commerce	2
Kinsale	Cork County Council	2
	Kinsale UDC	2
River Moy	Mayo County Council	2
	Ballina UDC	2
	Ballina Chamber of Commerce	2
Sligo	Sligo County Council	2
	Sligo Corporation	2
	Sligo Chamber of Commerce	2
Tralee and Fenit	Kerry County Council	2
	Tralee UDC	2
	Tralee Chamber of Commerce	2
Waterford	Waterford Corporation	5
	Waterford County Council	1
	Tipperary (SR) County Council	1
	Kilkenny County Council	1
	Waterford Chamber of Commerce	4
	National Executive of the Irish Live Stock Trade	2
	IBEC	2
	Waterford Council of Trade Unions	2
Westport	Mayo County Council	2
	Westport UDC	2
	Westport Chamber of Commerce	2
Wexford	Wexford County Council	2
	Wexford Corporation	2
	Wexford Chamber of Commerce	2
Wicklow	Wicklow County Council	2
	Wicklow UDC	2
	Wicklow Chamber of Commerce	2

Notes

1. In the case of Kilrush and Youghal, the members of the Urban District Council are the harbour authority.

2. In addition to the nominations outlined in the Table, there is provision for harbour elections in each year in which local authority elections take place. Harbour users may elect 2 members to the boards of their harbour (with the exception of Waterford, where 4 members are elected).

Port Companies

Company	Nominating Body	Number of persons nominated
Port of Cork Company	Cork Corporation	2
	Cork County Council	1
Drogheda Port Company	Louth County Council	1
	Meath County Council	1
	Drogheda Corporation	1
Dublin Port Company	Dublin Corporation	3
Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company	Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council	3
Foynes Port Company	Limerick County Council	3
Galway Harbour Company	Galway Corporation	2
	Galway County Council	1
New Ross Port Company	Wexford County Council	1
	Kilkenny County Council	1
	New Ross UDC	1
Shannon Estuary Ports Company	Limerick Corporation	1
	Clare County Council	1
	Kerry County Council	1

Notes

1. The above appointments are formally made by the Minister for the Marine, on foot of nominations made by the local authorities concerned.

2. Elections of employee directors will take place in Cork, Dublin and Dún Laoghaire within the next year, to appoint 2 employee directors at each of the ports.

In the case of nominations to the boards of port companies, the attention of the local authorities concerned was drawn to Government policy on the appointment of women to the boards of State bodies. Similar action will be taken in advance of the next nominations by local authorities to harbour authorities.

Two of the five directors of Arramara Teo are appointed by Nutra Sweet Kelco Company. In addition, the Deputy may wish to note that a proportion of the places on Regional Fisheries Boards and Trout and Coarse Fisheries Development Societies are filled by election.