Women and Irish State Boards

Published: Monday, January 26, 2015

Are you interested in being a board member and having your say in the decision making processes that govern some of our state bodies? Then www.stateboards.ie want to hear from you.

In November 2014, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on behalf of the Government concluded a review of the process of appointments to State Boards, following a public controversy in relation to a particular government appointment.

As part of that review, NWCI met with the Department to brief them on the measures that we would like to see incorporated in the revised guidelines.  We were delighted to see that the guidelines, published in December 2014, have incorporated the majority of our recommendations, and this contribution was also recognised in the Seanad by the Minister himself.  We welcome the introduction of these guidelines, which are available here.

Earlier this month we met with Fiona Tierney, CEO of the Public Appointments Service.  Fiona and her team are working to ensure that these guidelines are fully implemented.  One key part of the implementation process is to widen the pool of candidates available, and they are particularly encouraging women with experience in local community, NGO, or business decision making forums to register their interest in being selected for a position on a State Board.

This is a significant opportunity for women.  We encourage our members to register their interest at www.stateboards.ie, and to help shape and influence the decision making processes in Ireland’s state and semi state agencies.  We look forward to working with the Public Appointments Service into the future to ensure that gender balance is achieved on Ireland’s state boards.