While this is a very slight decline on last year’s figure of 41pc, it represents a 54pc increase since the first index was drawn up in 2020. Women held just 8pc of directorships in all stock market-listed companies in 2013.
Only two of the 20 boards have women chairs – Donna Troy at FD Technologies and Julie O’Neill at Permanent TSB.
The index examines the 20 largest companies by market capitalisation on the Irish stock exchange. The year under review ended on April 30, with the main change in that time being the delisting of Smurfit Kappa from Euronext Dublin.
It was replaced in the Iseq 20 by Mincon, which has the second-lowest proportion of female representation in the index at 29pc, with FD Technologies the lowest at 17pc.
Ruth Curran, managing partner of Spencer Stuart Ireland, said gender equality is still making slow progress at a senior board level. “Men continue to dominate when it comes to CEOs, CFOs, chairs and senior independent directors, with women holding fewer than one in four of these roles,” she said.
“More positively, though, 15 of the ISEQ 20 do have a woman in one of these top four roles and with the total number of women on ISEQ boards up more than 50pc in the past five years, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for this to translate into greater balance in these more senior roles.”
In total, 20 new directors were appointed across nine listed boards, including five executive appointments. Glanbia, IRES, Origin Enterprises and FBD Holdings each appointed three, while Permanent TSB, Ryanair, and Cairn Homes all appointed two.
The Ryanair appointees were Moroccan businesswoman Jinane Laghrari Laabi and former British minister Amber Rudd. The IRES Reit appointee were Richard Nesbitt and Amy Freedman.
Bank of Ireland announced the appointment of Akshaya Bhargava as its chairperson.
The average age of new directors was 57, while the average age for chairpersons is now 70, reflecting the fact that experience is considered a key requirement. The average age of directors on ISEQ 20 boards is 60.7 years.
Two out of five non-executive directors are non-Irish nationals.
The continued shrinking of the Irish stock exchange is a concern, Ms Curran said. “With fewer listed companies, the pipeline of future board-ready leaders is narrowing, as public company experience becomes increasingly scarce and prized, particularly for governance-heavy roles and board appointments,” she said.
“This risks board refreshments becoming stale, as there is a smaller pool of experienced candidates to draw from.”
Companies held more board meetings on average, up to 9.7 compared to 6.9 in 2024.
The average fee for non-executive directors fell to €79,126, the first decline in five years, reflecting the fact that some high-fee companies have delisted from Euronext Dublin.
Chairs received a fee ranging from €125,000 to €525,000, with 90pc of the companies paying in cash. The average is €241,952, down 8.6pc from €264,840 last year and down 12.8pc over five years, again reflecting the departure of the likes of CRH and Flutter from the Irish stock exchange.
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