The Irish Corporate Governance (Gender Balance) Bill 2021 was presented to Dáil Éireann during the week. Proposals in the Bill include a mandatory 33 per cent of a company’s board must be female after the first year of enactment, rising to 40 per cent after three years. The targets reflect the ambitions of many groups seeking to improve gender diversity on boards, including Balance for Better Business who have set targets of 33 per cent for boards of listed companies and 30 per cent for boards of large private companies by end of 2023.
The Bill, due to be debated in the Dáil, proposes to apply the requirements to corporate bodies including:
- limited and unlimited companies,
- charities,
- funds (including UCITS), and
- all state sponsored bodies and their subsidiaries.
Exemptions from the requirements will apply to:
- unincorporated associations,
- partnerships,
- limited liability partnerships,
- single director companies,
- micro company, or,
- other corporate body that has an annual turnover of less than €750,000 or that employs fewer than 20 employees, or both.
The Bill proposes a statutory declaration to be made by the chairperson of the governing body, e.g., board, in the Annual Return or annual financial statements that the the gender balance requirements have been complied with. If they are unable to comply then they will be required to disclose the reasons why.
Níall Fitzgerald FCA
Head of Corporate Governance & Ethics at Chartered Accountants Ireland
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