Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 375: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps she is taking to ensure that the membership of State boards comprises at least 40% of each gender, as provided for in the programme for Government. [22465/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are three State Boards for which the Minister for Social Protection has responsibility - the Citizens Information Board, Pensions Board and the Social Welfare Tribunal. In addition, while the Pensions Ombudsman comes within the remit of the Minister for Social Protection, this statutory body does not have a board. When filling vacancies to these State Boards every effort is made to comply with the requirement to have at least 40% of each gender represented on the Board. In this regard, the relevant legislative provisions governing the membership of the Citizens Information Board require that not less than 6 of the 15 members must be female, while not less than 6 must be male. 50% of the current Board members are female, with one vacancy due to be filled.

While members of both the Pensions Board and the Social Welfare Tribunal are appointed by the Minister for Social Protection, there is also a requirement that the members appointed must be representative of various interests involved. For instance, appointments to the Pensions Board are subject to the conditions set out in Section 9 and the First Schedule of the Pensions Act 1990. These conditions specify that all members of the Board are appointed by the Minister for Social Protection under the provisions of the Act and must comprise representatives of trade unions, employers, consumer interests, pensioner interests, the Government, the pensions industry, member trustees and professional groups involved with pension arrangements. The term of office for Board members is five years. Within this selection process due regard has been paid to date to ensure that the gender quota of 40% female representation on the Pensions Board is met.

The Social Welfare Tribunal deals with cases where entitlement to jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance is refused due to an involvement in a trade dispute and where claimants feel that they have been unreasonably deprived of employment because their employer has refused or failed to follow the negotiating machinery available for settling disputes. The Tribunal comprises a chairperson and four ordinary members who must be representative of employees and employers. Accordingly, two of the members are nominated by ICTU and the other two members are nominated by IBEC. When seeking nominations for the ordinary members of the Tribunal from both ICTU and IBEC every effort is made to ensure that the nominations adhere to the Government's gender balance policy. The current Tribunal, which was appointed in October 2009 for a 3 year term, has one female member (20%).

Given the nature of the work of the Tribunal, appointments to the position of chairperson have, in the past, been made on the recommendation of suitable candidates by the Labour Relations Commission. In the future it is intended that the position of chairperson will be advertised publicly and the most qualified and suitable candidate will be selected by competitive interview.