The record of Government Departments in appointing women to State boards has improved in the past six months, new figures show.
Boards which come under three Departments have now exceeded the Government's minimum target of 40 per cent female representation.
Women account for 43 per cent of members of boards which come under the aegis of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, with 42 per cent each for the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of the Taoiseach.
While the Department of Social and Family Affairs had already met this target by the end of last year, the other two Departments reached it only in the past six months.
The improvement was yesterday welcomed by Mr Willie O'Dea, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
"We would appear on the surface to be moving in the right direction, which is good," he said.
Women now account for 39 per cent of members of boards under the Department of the Environment and Local Government, while the figure for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform stands at 38 per cent.
The preliminary figures are contained in the second six-monthly review of the gender composition of State boards which Mr O'Dea will bring to the Government in September.
He said he had not yet ruled out proposing legislation if the strict voluntary measures to boost female representation on State boards do not lead to significant improvements over the next two years.
Mr O'Dea wrote to all Ministers in July 2002 asking them to review the gender balance on State boards and advising them of his intention to bring six-monthly updates to Government.
The first report was submitted to the Government in June 2003 and covered the six-month period to December 2002.
In 1993 the Government set as a minimum target that 40 per cent of nominees to State boards should be women. This target is repeated in the latest Programme for Government.
However, the overall percentage of women sitting on State boards has fallen over the past five years and still remains well below the 40 per cent target.
Mr O'Dea said he would write to all Ministers shortly, encouraging those who have reached the 40 per cent target to now work towards equal representation of men and women on their boards.
He will also ask those who have not met the target to report to him on their strategies to do so, and the expected timescale.
Mr O'Dea yesterday agreed with a recent claim by the lobby group Women in Technology and Science (WITS) that State boards are slow to appoint women members because of "institutionalised sexism".
Women represent only about 25 per cent of those sitting on scientific, technological and industrial boards, according to WITS, 15 percentage points off the target.
Mr O'Dea said he had "100 per cent confidence in the female gender in the technology sector" and would target this sector to make progress in it.