My Department has no involvement in relation to the provision of Social and Structural Funds to people with disabilities or the travelling community.
The Community Support Framework for Ireland for 1994-99, which includes the Social and Structural Funds of the EU, contains a standard clause requiring the actions and measures taken within the framework to promote equality of opportunities between men and women. In particular, in the area of the human resources operational programme, which provides training and retraining for those in employment and those seeking reintegration into the labour market, some £7.7 million has been dedicated to special provision for women. This involves support for employment and training courses for women returning to work, management training, training for non-traditional work, for child-care workers and managers and guidance and information initiatives for women.
A Nova Project under the European Social Fund entitled Quality through Equality, which was organised by the Employment Equality Agency under the aegis of my Department and which has just been completed, has developed practical models of equal opportunities policies for application in the public and private sectors which should help to actively promote equality in employment.
I have also availed of the opportunity of Ireland's Presidency of the EU to specifically promote equal opportunities with regard to Structural Funds. A recent Council of Social Affairs Ministers in Brussels recorded political agreement on this measure which is expected to be formally adopted in the near future. I have also put forward a draft resolution on equal opportunities for women and men and the EU Structural Funds, for adoption by the Social Affairs Council as a Presidency initiative. The resolution is intended to give renewed impetus and commitment to the principle of mainstreaming gender equality into Structural Fund programmes, especially in the context of the mid-term review. This resolution has been agreed and will be adopted at a forthcoming meeting of the Council.
I also propose to host an EU Presidency conference on disability equality in mid-November at which the issue of Social and Structural Funds for people with disabilities will be discussed.
I understand that the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities has examined this issue and I await any recommendations that might ensue.