Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 42 does not set the bar as a hard requirement but rather "endeavour to ensure". There are a number of ways that could be addressed that would not require the advertisement of a position solely to men or women. An endeavour might apply in a situation where there might have been a majority of members of the commission who were of one gender that the Public Appointments Service might ensure that there was gender balance in the names put forward for the next position to be filled.It may be as simple as ensuring there is a gender balance or, perhaps, where two or three candidates are put forward, that one of either gender would be put forward for the Minister's consideration.

There are imaginative ways to address this and we need to do so because we have a problem not solely within the membership of boards but also within the senior roles in our Civil Service and wider public service in respect of a gender balance at that level. Proactive measures, which may not need to be exclusionary but rather may be inclusive to ensure there will be that gender balance at the higher levels and positions, are important. I urge that some further imaginative thought be put into how that might be done.

On amendment No. 41, while I acknowledge each role is recruited individually, it is important we set the bar. Sometimes, there is a danger within the Public Appointments Service, PAS, of a generalist approach whereby persons who have simply managed a certain number of people or who have done so at a certain level come in. I accept the Minister will engage the PAS in regard to what the skills will be, but these are very specific skills. The model I am looking for is not simply a board one but one that is similar to, for example, the Climate Change Advisory Council, which is certainly not a generic board but rather a series of expert persons.

I regret the fact the Minister cannot accept amendments Nos. 41 and 42 but I will press them. I accept her point about the former amendment but, until I see the public duty to equality and human rights bearing fruit in every Department, I will keep trying to insert it into all legislation at every possible point until it takes hold. It will do so, I hope, in this new body, which will have an opportunity to get things right from the outset.