By Justin McCarthy
The Federation of Irish Sport has warned against "aggressive implementation" of gender quotas on the boards of national sporting organisations.
The federation's CEO James Galvin told the Oireachtas committee on transport, tourism and sport that "there are inherent risks in appointing people to positions based on their gender rather than appropriate experience".
He said "aggressive implementation could lead to resentment, and run contrary to the intentions of the policy."
He said there was a "need to have a much wider debate about the traditional barriers to women's representation on boards."
He added: "given the collective nature of directors' responsibility, there may be a detrimental impact on recruiting competent people if they believe that quotas are promoting candidates beyond their ability."
He said that while the Federation of Irish Sport agrees with the spirit of the policy, its implementation may pose particular challenges for some sporting bodies.
"For example; consideration and understanding should be afforded to single gender dominated sport bodies."
The Federation of Irish Sport is the representative body for Ireland's National Governing Bodies, Local Sports Partnerships and other voluntary sports organisations. Its membership is comprised of over 100 different sporting organisations.
Minister of State for Sport Patrick O’Donovan recently announced his intention to introduce a 30 per cent gender quota for administrators within sporting bodies in order to help women “break the glass ceiling”.
