Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 November 2017
78. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the action that is taken by his Department in cases in which a State board fails to meet its gender quota; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48540/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra80. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his Department's latest guidelines on appointments to State boards. [48643/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 80 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government overhauled the system for State Board appointments during 2014, building on a number of earlier innovations originally introduced in 2011.
The revised approach has the following three key principles at its core:
- the promotion of wider access to opportunities on State boards;
- the establishment of detailed and comprehensive criteria for those roles; and
- the introduction of transparent and rigorous assessment of candidates against these criteria.
While it remains the responsibility of the relevant Minister to appoint members of the State boards under his or her auspices, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) now has a significant role under the new arrangements in preparing a sufficient list of suitable candidates so that Ministers are able to exercise effective choice. This provides independent assurance that the appointee is of sufficient calibre and quality to add significant value to the work of the relevant board.
My predecessor as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform issued Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards in November 2014 setting out clearly how the new appointments process would work in practice.
In terms of the specific objective of increasing the participation of women on State Boards, the Government agreed to set a target of 40% female membership of such boards and that where a board met the 40% target that the aim should be to increase to 45%.
A database maintained by my Department on State Board Appointments (available at www.StateBoards.ie) shows that steady progress is being made on increasing female participation. Some 40% of all board members are now female, although this percentage obviously varies from Board to Board.
Indications are that 48% of State Boards have reached the target of a minimum of 40% female membership set by the Government and indeed that some 35% of boards have met the higher 45% target. This compares very favourably with the private sector, with a figure of somewhere around 13% female participation. The position on individual State Boards is a matter for the relevant Minister.
Up to the end of September this year, over 500 appointments have been made under the new system. Some 30% of the applications received for state board appointment came from women, who made up some 45% of the appointments made by Ministers.
As I mentioned, each Minister is ultimately responsible for appointments to boards under their aegis and must have regard to the Guidelines. Relevant issues relating to the effective operation of each board, including those such as diversity, gender balance and mix of expertise are for each Minister to consider. Personally I would encourage all Ministers, through their Departments, to encourage measures to increase awareness of State Boards in their sectors with the particular aim of increasing applications from women.
