Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1984 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities (4th Committee) > Report No. 06 - Proposals relating to Equality of Opportunity (including Parental and Family Leave)

APPENDIX 4

POSITIVE ACTION PROGRAMMES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

(Affirmative Action Schemes)

IDA

The Company has decided to re-appraise the initiative undertaken in 1981 and to examine progress achieved under its scheme.

AnCO

In addition to organising special training courses for women as part of its industrial training strategy and encouraging women to enter non-traditional areas, AnCO organised a Positive Action Programme for a small number of its clerical staff. The scheme was very successful and facilitated the movement upwards of the participants to more senior positions within the company.

RTE

The Joint Committee understands that work has commenced on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Women in Broadcasting Report. The trade union representing the clerical staff has reported that RTE are not prepared to implement two recommendations which were identified by the working party as a means of creating equality between male and female employees. The recommendations in question deal with a review of the grading system and of the pay of typists and secretarial grades.

Aer Rianta

Special training courses for women, including courses on assertiveness, were organised by Aer Rianta as part of the company’s overall training programme.

ESB

Arising from an approach from the Employment Equality Agency the company set aside a number of apprenticeship posts for women. The ESB set up a management selected committee to examine the position of women in the organisation.

Aer Lingus

This company has an intensive training programme for management staff.

Banks

Arising from representations from the Employment Equality Agency the Banks adopted a flexible approach to their recruitment policies. Formerly, typing was considered an essential requirement for female entrants. This resulted in streamlining female employees into secretarial duties and males to counter duties. An imaginative approach was taken by the Banks regarding this issue. The present position obtaining is that typing is considered an asset but not an essential requirement and out of a pool of recruits a sufficient number will have a typing skill. Streamlining by sex no longer applies.