Irish-listed firms have fewer female CEOs than last year, survey shows

Just three Irish-listed firms have a female chief executive, new figures from the Government-backed Balance for Better Business group show.

The number is down from four last year, and amounts to 9pc of all companies in 2023, down from 11pc in 2022 and in 2021.

There are only two female chairs across all publicly listed companies and four female chief financial officers, the group said.

It means Irish-listed firms have missed their voluntary target of having between 25pc and 30pc female representation on their senior leadership teams.

Females make up 27pc of senior leaders in Ireland’s 20 top-performing publicly listed companies (ISEQ20), short of a 30pc target.

They make up 16pc of senior leadership teams in other listed companies, short of a 25pc target.

However, women make up 39pc of all ISEQ20 company board members, surpassing a voluntary target of 33pc. That has increased by 21pc over the past five years, Balance for Better Business said in its sixth annual report.

Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney said it was “encouraging” to see more women on boards but said “work remains” on getting more females into decision-making jobs.

“Exceeding targets for the proportion of women on the boards of publicly listed companies is an important accomplishment and is testament to the significant work undertaken by the business community,” he said.

“While this progress is laudable, more work remains. Women are still underrepresented in key decision-making roles at senior leadership and board level, with only two female chairs and three CEOs across all publicly listed companies. It’s critical that firms address these areas to increase the pace of progress and create a gender balanced enterprise economy where leadership roles accurately reflect Irish society.”

Balance for Better Business co-chair Carol Andrews said companies need to think more about creating a “pipeline” of female leaders who can take over when former bosses step down.

“Our focus is now shifting to increase the representation of women on senior leadership teams, which remains particularly low across the CEO, CFO and chair roles in publicly listed companies. To address this challenge, businesses should develop gender balanced succession plans and pipelines for key leadership roles. By addressing the cultural barriers that prevent women advancing in organisations and providing concrete pathways to top positions we can enable sustainable and long-lasting change.”