Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned about what the Government is doing regarding appointments. I wish to draw to the Taoiseach's attention the appointments to the board of Ervia announced by his Government on 6 July 2016. The four members appointed are the chairman, Mr. Keohane, whom I understand is Irish, a Mr. Banks, whom I understand is from Scottish Water, a Mr. Barry, whom I understand is Irish, and a Mr. Keith Harris, whom I understand may be English but who at least is appointed in the context of his having served on the board of Wessex Water. With regard to having people from all over Ireland and possibly Northern Ireland on the board, there are, from what I read, two Irish appointees and two from the United Kingdom. Most noticeable of all is that, among the four people appointed to a board on one day, there is not one woman. Do we not have at least two female engineers in this country or women involved in business or finance, either from the North or South, who could actually have an audience with the Government with a view to being appointed to a major board that oversees gas and other energy networks and also our water networks? What happened on this occasion? Was the collective Cabinet asleep? When I was a member of the Cabinet, the issue of the number of women appointed to boards was always a matter for attention, not least by me but also by other Cabinet members, including those from the Taoiseach's party. I really want to understand this.

I have looked for an answer and have read the documentation on these people from Ervia. Obviously, the Public Appointments Commission must have recommended them all, but Deputy Simon Coveney made these appointments. What came over him in a country which is weighed down with qualified women North and South that he had four major appointments to make and could not recommend one woman. Apparently nobody in the Cabinet, unless the Taoiseach is prepared to share information to the contrary with us, put up his or her hand and asked whether we have a few women in this country. Supposing four women were appointed, and there would be more than four women perfectly capable of taking on this position, maybe one of the lads would have put up his hand and ask why there were no men. Could the Taoiseach please explain what happened on 6 July 2016? Presumably, the new-ish Cabinet is very eager to show its mettle on very important issues, such as the proper and full participation of women, as of right, as of ability and as of what they have to contribute but they have been entirely excluded from this board appointment.

See this speech in context