National Women’s Council of Ireland says government policy on gender balance travestied

Published: Tuesday, July 07, 2009

The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) has to-day called for a complete review and examination of how the Government's stated commitment to achieving a minimum of 40 percent representation of women on State boards is being implemented. This comes in the wake of revelations that one Vocational Education Committee was prevented from meeting because there were too many women on board.

'Whilst the Government made a commitment to ensuring fair representation of women on state boards in 2002, it is clear that its own legislation concerning Vocational Education Committees is in direct conflict with that policy" said Susan Mc Kay Director of the National Women's Council of Ireland. "According to the Vocational Education Amendment Act 2001 the gender balance amongst Councillors on VECs must reflect the gender balance of members of County/City and Town Councils. Given the fact that only 19% of Councillors are women, this is a totally unfair measure" she added. "In recent days we have learned that in one VEC women were prevented from taking up their positions because of this ridiculous legislation. This, despite the fact that the VEC in question had a strong stated policy on equality"