Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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139. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the gender balance on each of the State boards under her remit, in tabular form. [48560/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am committed to achieving the target, set out in the Government’s Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards, of at least 40% representation of each gender on Boards. The gender balance on each of the State boards under my remit is outlined in the following table.  I am pleased to say that I have achieved the gender ratio target on the Boards of the Arts Council, the Heritage Council, the Irish Manuscripts Commission, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Archives Advisory Council, the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland and the National Concert Hall.  Overall the gender balance on Boards under my remit is 49% male and 51% female.  Vacancies on the Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta have recently been publicly advertised by the Public Appointments Service.  I will continue to actively seek to meet the target of at least 40% representation of each gender.  

It should be noted that appointments to the boards of Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency (agencies of the North South Implementation Body, An Foras Teanga) are made by the North/South Ministerial Council, arising from nominations on a 50:50 basis from each jurisdiction.  In addition, the Irish Manuscripts Commission is a commission of academics rather than a governing board and the National Archives Advisory Council is an advisory body rather than a governing board.