Female participation at board level in finance above 36%

Women in Finance Charter shows strong progress in past three years

Financial Services Ireland director Patricia Callan said the rise of female representation at board level in financial services 'represents strong progress'. Picture: Julen Behal

Female participation at board level in financial services has increased from 30% to 36.3% over the past three years, according to the annual report of Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter.

The third annual report was compiled by the ESRI in collaboration with Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, Financial Services Ireland (part of Ibec), Insurance Ireland, and Irish Funds. The Government-supported initiative seeks to improve female representation at all levels in financial services firms in Ireland.

Average female representation at senior board level is now 43.4%. Women at CEO level now represent 22.6% of participant firms, compared to 19.4% when the charter began three years ago.

Signatories to the charter commit to setting targets for increased female representation. In January 2025, there were 100 signatory firms to the Charter, which accounted for over 72,000 employees, representing over half of all employees in the financial services sector.

Barriers to equal female representation remain, including low turnover rates in senior positions, fewer female job applicants, the specificity of key skills and experience required, and childcare costs and availability.

"The figures in the latest Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter report represent strong progress amongst participating firms in a short space of time," said Financial Services Ireland director Patricia Callan. "A maximum of three years has passed for firms signing up in 2022, and only one year for firms signing up in 2024, which demonstrates tremendous proactivity amongst members in driving gender balance at these levels.

“We introduced the charter because we know that it's the right thing to do for business. It is our role to continue pushing for increased female participation at all levels in the financial services sector and wider economy.”