John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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293. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the efforts his Department is making to achieve gender balance on all State boards and agencies under the remit of his Department; if he will set out the changes achieved to date on each; if 50% of the membership of all boards, policy groups or agencies that provide advice to Government on matters of policy will be reserved for appropriately qualified individuals from the private sector in order to achieve a balance between the public and private sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20724/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Appointments to State Boards under the Department’s aegis are made in compliance with the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boardsand the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. In September 2020, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform published a new Annex on Gender Balance, Diversity, and Inclusion to supplement the existing Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.

The Annex sets out measures designed to enhance diversity on State Boards and addresses recommendations made by an Inter-Departmental Group on Gender Balance on State Boards. That report found that further work was required to build on recent improvements in gender balance on the Boards of State bodies.

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has implemented the provisions of the Annex which includes:

New reporting measures designed to provide greater transparency around Boards which have not reached appropriate levels of gender balance;

State bodies which have not reached the 40% target will be required to set out the measures that will be taken to deliver on this target;

Ministers to be informed of the gender balance on State Boards at the time of making further appointments;

Each State Board to report annually on its progress in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion within the organisation;

Board evaluation processes should be expanded to consider issues around gender diversity, as a means of enhancing Board effectiveness;

Board terms should be varied to allow for an acceleration towards better gender balance in membership.

The attached table sets out the overall gender balance of the boards under the aegis of the Department at 27 June 2020 and at 31 March 2021.

The Department will continue to implement Government policy and is committed to ensuring that every effort is made to identify and appoint candidates who contribute to gender diversity on its Boards.

Table showing gender balance change between 27^thJune 2020 and 31^stMarch 2021 on State Bodies under the aegis of DECC