To ask the Minister of Justice what targets his Department has on awarding public appointments to (i) people under 30 years of age; and (ii) women.

My Department does not currently set targets for awarding public appointments to people under 30 years of age and women. In some previous public appointment competitions, my Department has used positive action statements in relation to age and gender in order to attract a wider pool of applicants from these groups. I will continue to consider this practice for future appointments where appropriate.

My Department is committed to the principle of selection on merit and complies with the Code of Practice for Ministerial Public Appointments published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments NI when making public appointments.

Improving diversity on the Boards of public bodies is important to my Department and I aim to attract applications from a broad range of candidates by advertising competitions using a range of outlets such as newspapers, the DOJ and OFMDFM websites and by highlighting forthcoming competitions on OFMDFM’s news-sheet ‘All Aboard’.