Vol. 437 No. 2
9 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform when the full membership will be appointed to the Committee he recently announced to oversee implementation of the recommendations of the Second Commission on the Status of Women; if any deadline has been set for the work of the Committee; the resources that will be made available to the Committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The full membership of the Monitoring Committee on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Commission on the Status of Women has now been nominated and the committee will have its inaugural meeting early next month. No deadline has been set for the committee — its work will be ongoing.
The commitee will be chaired by the Secretary of my Department and the resources of the Department will be made available to assist the committee in its work. Membership of the committee is as follows:
Chair: Bernard McDonagh; Secretary, Department of Equality and Law Reform
Members: Anne Taylor, Council for the Status of Women
Joy McCormick; Irish Countrywomen's Association
Rosemarie Smith; Irish Farmer's Association
Peter Flood, Irish Business and Employers Confederation
Margaret Nolan; Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Carmel Foley; Employment Equality Agency
Pat O'Sullivan; Department of the Taoiseach
Eugene O'Sullivan; Department of Finance
Margo Monaghan; Department of Enterprise and Employment
Lee McCurtain; Department of Education
Ruth Barrington; Department of Health Catherine Hazlett; Department of Social Welfare
Séamus Feely; Office of the Tánaiste
Paul Mulhern; Department of Equality and Law Reform
How many of those appointed to the committee are men and how many are women?
Of those appointed, eight are women and seven are men, including the chairman.
I thank the Minister for the information. May I ask him whether any of the list of 100 are on the list of nominations to this committee? Will the Minister say why there is a preponderence of Department officials on the committee? Does the Minister not believe, particularly in relation to the whole question of equality of women, that the impetus for change has come from women's organisations and voluntary bodies and that their role in that change and in the input into the commission report is not reflected in the make-up of this committee?
This committee was set up as a monitoring and advisory group. The actual work was done by the Second Commission on the Status of Women who put forward recommendations in its report. It was suggested that this committee be set up to consider which recommendations should be put forward to Government for consideration with a view to their implementation. That is why it is very important to have on the committee representatives of the appropriate Government Departments who will be involved in the implementation of the recommendations. Other essential groupings such as the Council for the Status of Women, the Irish Countrywomen's Association, the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Employment Equality Agency are well represented.
Will the Minister say why no deadline has been set for completion of the work of the committee? I return to the question raised by Deputy McManus in that it appears there is a preponderence of civil servants on the committee. Notwithstanding the Minister's reply, would he not agree that it would have been better to include more women's organisations and voluntary organisations in the make-up of the committee?
I think there is a fair balance between the associations involved and representatives of the Departments who after all will have the task of deciding which recommendations should go forward to Government for consideration. The question of a deadline does not arise. I would remind the House that there are 210 separate recommendations in the report which covers all matters affecting women's lives. It will take some time to examine all these recommendations and arrange for their implementation — many of them have already been implemented. Having regard to the extensive list of recommendations in the report, it would be presumptuous to try to set a deadline, and there is no intention of doing so.
Has a date been set for a meeting of the committee? As January is the first anniversary of the publication of the commission report, is it anticipated that a review of progress to date in terms of the report will be the first item on the committee's agenda? Does the Minister believe that progress to date will be disappointing to the committee?
There will be no reason for disappointment; the reverse will be the case. I will check the date in January referred to by the Deputy and if it is opportune to hold the meeting on the anniversary date I would have no problem with that. My information is that it is intended to hold the inaugural meeting early in January but I do not as yet have the exact date.
Will this committee be purely an internal affair or is it intended that on an annual basis it will publish information on recommendations that have been implemented, recommendations that are in the course of being implemented and recommendations that are being ignored?
This is not an internal committee as it is made up of people other than Department representatives. The question of publication of reports will be a matter for the committee and no guidelines have been issued to it in that connection.
I urge the Minister to issue a guideline to the committee that on an annual basis it should publish a report on progress made in implementing the recommendations of the second commission's report.
I will consider that matter.
Would the Minister not accept that it is not sufficient that the committee consider only recommendations to be implemented? There is a large political element as to the priorities that are set and the dominance of civil servants on the committee will distort the role of the committee. Will the Minister agree that if priorities are to be set it is more appropriate that they be set by a more balanced committee? Apart from what can be managed easily through the system, there is also a political dimension which will determine which recommendations are given priority and brought into effect as quickly as possible. No member of the committee has been democratically elected by the people and, apart from one person from the Council for the Status of Women, there is no representation of those voluntary organisations working with women, for example, the various support groups, Women's Aid, the Rape Crisis Centre, etc. Will the Minister accept that there is a large political dimension to this issue, which he has not recognised in his replies to questions today?
If Deputy McManus's suggestion was to be followed up, one could visualise a huge committee of 40 to 50 members which would accomplish nothing. I agree that there is a political dimension to this issue. At the end of the day the decision regarding which particular recommendations are implemented at any particular time is a matter for the Government — it is the Government, a democratically elected group, which decides these issues and has the political input into them. The setting up of this monitoring committee was recommended in the report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women — its setting up is in compliance with one recommendation. This committee reviews the position and considers which measues are appropriate at certain time. The Government considers these positions from time to time and decides which of the commission's recommendations should be progressed by way of legislation or otherwise, as may be appropriate.
Question No. 10, please.
The Minister did not answer——
Sorry, Deputy, I am proceeding to Question No. 10 in the name of Deputy Michael Kitt.
I asked a question which the Minister——
We have dealt adequately with this question, Deputy.
The Minister did not answer my question about the list of 100.
I am sorry, Deputy, the Chair has given you considerable latitude.
I think the Minister wants to answer my question.
If the Deputy is dissatisfied with the Minister's reply——
I have not heard his reply about——
——she has a remedy.
I want to hear his reply.
I am proceeding to Question No. 10.
