Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Given it is international women's day, I must say they are all looking very well today in the Dáil. I welcome the opportunity afforded by this debate to underline the Government's strong commitment to improving corporate governance, particularly in light of the serious shortcomings of corporate governance revealed in the recent past in both the private and the State sector. The quality of board governance is key to the successful and prudent management of enterprises. Since the Government took office, we have made changes to the system of appointment to State boards to ensure greater transparency and balance. Departments now invite expressions of interest in vacancies on the boards of bodies under their aegis on their websites.

When requested, the Public Appointments Service provides a selection and support service to Departments and offices where State board vacancies have been advertised on their websites. In short-listing applicants, the Public Appointments Service gives due regard to the recent experience of applicants to ensure an appropriate mix of skills and gender.

The programme for Government also contains a commitment that: "Public funding for political parties will be tied to the level of participation by women as candidates those parties achieve". The Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 includes provision for a requirement that to qualify for full State funding under Part 3 of the Electoral Act 1997, a qualified political party will have to have at least 30% female candidates and at least 30% male candidates at the next general election - I do not know where that leaves the rest. Seven years from the general election where this provision first applies, this will rise to 40% commencing at the general election held next after that. When the Bill is passed, the intended outcome will be effectively to double that figure to 30% within one general election cycle, which is very ambitious.

In March 2011 the Government announced in the programme for Government that it will take steps to ensure that all State boards have at least 40% of each gender. While that has been a long-standing goal in public policy, it is a challenge to achieve it. The figures for the end of 2010 show that the participation rate for women on State boards is 34.67%, which is slightly above the 2009 rate, but still short of the 40% target. The position of women chairpersons is more encouraging however, up from 46 to 52 in 2010, or from 18% to 20%.

Quotas or incentives may have a role to play but there are wider societal factors that impede the participation of women in public and corporate life. In the general context, the issue of gender balance and corporate governance was the subject of a public consultation last year by Internal Market and Services Commissioner, Michel Barnier. The Commission summary of the outcome noted that the majority of respondents rejected the idea of listed companies being required to ensure better gender balance on boards. The respondents that were in favour proposed different means for achieving a better gender balance, starting with a voluntary approach for a transitional period, followed by compulsory measures if need be.

The Government will keep the situation under review and consider what further action may be needed to achieve the desired target. It is noteworthy that the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 does not compel or oblige parties by law per se to provide a quota of candidates of a particular gender but operates by way of encouragement and incentive.

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