€148m gender equality initiative faces axe

A €148 MILLION government initiative to foster gender equality across all sections of society has made no real progress and is in serious danger of being scrapped after just two years, it has been claimed.

The National Women’s Strategy (NWS) was announced under the National Development Plan in 2007, promising to provide training and education, and deal with a wide range of women’s inequalities. But according to the National Women’s Council, serious questions must now be asked as the main strand of the strategy – the Equality for Women Measure (EWM) – looks set to be axed.

Applications from 150 women’s groups seeking funding under the EWM, which was to encourage disadvantaged women back into the workplace, have been with the Department of Justice since last summer, but groups have been repeatedly told that funding for the scheme is “under review”.

John Maloney, Minister of State at the Department of Justice is chair of the strategy’s monitoring committee and will meet with the NWC tomorrow evening, where he is expected to outline what the future of the initiative is.

According to the NWC, already budgetary allocations for the strategy have been cut by more than 50% this year, and out of a budget of €10 million last year, it looks as though only €1.3m had been spent.

Rachel Doyle, head of outreach and support with the NWC, said progress under the strategy had been “much slower” than predicted.

She said there appeared to be no real results, no indication of how much money had been spent so far and monitoring committee meetings were only held twice a year.

Ursula Barry, a leading specialist in gender equality and public and social policy, warned that the strategy was in serious danger of becoming yet another example of failed government policy due to a lack of funding, targets and any tangible progress.

Mr Barry said she did not believe any achievements could be attributed to the NWS, because there are no clear indications as to where it is going, making it impossible to monitor.

Mr Maloney said the difficult economic situation and pressure on the public finances had necessitated a review of all government expenditure – including the Equality for Women Measure initiative at the Department of Justice.

He said the department is “currently looking at options” in relation to the measure, and that the outcome of that review would be communicated to applicants “in the near future”.