Only 9% on public boards are women

Ireland is one of only three EU countries where the number of women on boards of public companies has not increased over the past year.

With just 9% of board members being female and none chairing them, Ireland lags near the bottom of the list for gender equality.

This should be an embarrassment for the Government as it has to chair meetings where the issue is discussed and measures to improve the under-representation of women on boards are being furthered.

Attention was drawn to the issue during Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s appearance before the European Parliament’s Economy Committee during the week when one of the members remarked that there were nine men and just two women with him.

Over the past 12 months the share of women on the boards of EU publicly listed companies increased from 13.7% to 15.8% having barely moved in years.

The increase follows efforts by European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding to force companies to introduce a 40% objective for women on boards, based on merit. Given progress over the previous few years, it would taken decades to reach this balance on boards without pressure, she had warned.

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating: regulatory pressure works. Companies are finally starting to understand that if they want to remain competitive in an ageing society they cannot afford to ignore female talent: 60% of university graduates are women,” she told an audience of business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

France adopted a quota law in 2011 and women now represent 25% of those on the boards of their biggest listed companies. Their legislation sets a 40% quota by 2017 for executive and non-executive board members in listed and non-listed large companies employing at least 500 workers and with revenues of more than €50m.

Bulgaria is the only country where the number of women on boards declined, while Poland and Ireland saw no change, with Ireland stagnating at 9%.