Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Will the Taoiseach outline the gender breakdown at senior level in his Department? When I served as Tánaiste I was quite shocked to find that there were relatively few women at senior level - above assistant and principal officer level - in the Department of the Taoiseach. Given that the Taoiseach is the lead Minister, as it were, in the Department and has spoken of his desire to see women involved in equal numbers in many aspects of public life, has he taken any initiatives to address the gender divide? Off the top of his head, does he know how many departmental staff at assistant secretary level are men and women, respectively? As we know, the Department is expanding for the strategic communications unit. The gender breakdown of the Department at management level needs serious addressing.

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