Equality measures to counteract the overwhelming gender imbalance at senior management level in local authorities were announced yesterday by the Minister for the Environment.
Mr Dempsey's initiative aims to change the situation revealed in statistics which show a substantial majority of senior management jobs are held by men.
Figures for last year show that men hold 90.12 per cent of the professional and technical jobs in local authorities. They include county and city engineers (all male), architects, senior executive technical grades and fire officers.
All 34 city or county managers are male and so are 18 out of 21 county secretaries.
On average, 65.13 per cent of clerical and administrative grades are held by women.
The Equality Action Programme will oblige local authorities to develop equality policies, achieve gender balance on interview boards, develop job descriptions for the "springboard grades" to senior management, and monitor the success rates of men and women in competition for senior jobs.
Mr Dempsey said he is "determined to create a level playing field for women in the local authority service." He expects "full co-operation from local authorities in developing this largely untapped pool of management potential."
The Minister said he wants to "broaden the base of management talent that is available in the future, and to create an environment where women's rights and dignity are protected and enhanced."
The chief executive of the Employment Equality Agency, Ms Carmel Foley, welcomed the initiative and said that the public service has a responsibility to be a role model for the private sector in its practices.
She also welcomed the recent appointment by Dublin Corporation of an equality officer, and said that the move to have gender balance on interview boards is a step forward.
"It is difficult for women applicants to go forward when there is an all-male interview board."
Tight deadlines have been set for the achievement of specific targets in the action programme. By the end of next month, each local authority in the State must have an equality officer and an equality action team.
By the end of October each must have completed an audit of staffing structures and set up equality objectives and measures to achieve them.
By the end of November the designated equality officer must have completed any necessary training.
The authorities will have to make copies of their equality policy and their policy on sexual harassment available to all staff, as well as monitoring and providing a breakdown of the numbers of male and female applicants for jobs.
The Minister said he is "aware that some local authorities have already taken steps to set out clear written statements of equal opportunities policy. I want this to be the norm in all local authorities."
