As the Deputy may be aware, significant changes were made between 2011 and 2014 to the system for State Board appointments with a view to promoting wider access to opportunities on State Boards and greater transparency in appointments.
In September 2020, the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (The Code) was updated to take account of the recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Group on Gender Balance on State Boards. The subsequent Annex to The Code : Gender Balance, Diversity, and Inclusion was published in September 2020. The Annex urges State bodies to lead the way in seeking to achieve gender balanced and diverse boards. The key amendments included in the Annex are:
• Subject to compliance with the relevant body's establishing legislation, board terms should be between 3 - 5 years, which may be renewed once to a maximum of 8 years.
• The annual report of the body should include details of gender balance; where the board stands vis-à-vis the 40% gender balance requirement; the key elements of the board's approach to promoting gender balance and diversity and the measures being taken to address the situation where a board is either all male or all female.
• The current gender composition of the board should be highlighted when making submissions to the Minister on board appointments and re-appointments.
• Each board should carry out an annual self-assessment evaluation which would include a detailed analysis and critical assessment of the gender, diversity and skills mix within the board.
• The annual report of the board should give an account of the approach being adopted in regard to the promotion of diversity and inclusion, including with regard to gender, in the specific context of the organisation; and on the progress and achievements in this regard.
My Department collated data from the Stateboards.ie website of the membership of State Boards serving in December 2024 where the board composition is greater than 3 and where the Minister makes the board appointments. When these parameters are taken into account, the data set consists of 187 boards totalling 2,044 board members. The analysis indicates that the gender participation rates are 49.5%
female and 50.4% male, with 57.7% of Boards now meeting the 40% gender targets, of which, 45 are boards where female membership is greater than or equal to 60%.
The 2025 Programme for Government – Securing Ireland’s Future restates the Government commitment to increasing gender balance on State Boards.
