Vol. 476 No. 3
134 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Social Welfare the nominating bodies to each board under the aegis of his Department; the number of seats to which each of these bodies nominate; and the guidelines or instructions given to nominating bodies to assist in achieving gender balance in line with Government policy. [6969/97]
The statutory agencies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Combat Poverty Agency, the Pensions Board and the National Social Service Board. Gender balance is an important consideration for me in appointing members to those boards and has been achieved by me in making appointments, as follows:
|
Male |
Female |
|
|
% |
% |
|
|
Combat Poverty Agency |
46 |
54 |
|
Pensions Board |
47 |
53 |
|
NSSB |
53 |
47 |
135 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Social Welfare the mechanisms used by his Department to ensure that policies, programmes and decisions are proofed to assess their impact on women; the training available to those officials responsible for gender proofing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7000/97]
All initiatives undertaken by my Department are gender-proofed as a matter of course in line with my Department's high level goal, as provided for in the strategic management initiative, of providing services in an efficient, effective, non-discriminatory and caring manner which are responsive to the needs of all our customers. In doing this, account is taken of gender research that is generally available such as the recommendations of the Second Commission on the Status of Women. My Department was represented on the monitoring committee set up to oversee the implementation of the Commission's recommendations and on the interdepartmental group representative of those Departments into whose remit the bulk of the Commission's recommendations fall.
Decisions on entitlement to social welfare benefits are made by statutorily appointed deciding officers in accordance with the provisions of relevant legislation.
My Department is also very conscious of its obligations in the area of gender-sensitive training and the training programmes of the Department's staff development unit take into account a wide range of equality issues and needs. Customer service training for our frontline staff focuses on the need for equality of treatment and service to all our customers in a dignified and sensitive manner. In addition, presentations on the need to manage staff on the basis of equality of treatment and opportunity are given as an integral part of our management training programme.
Considerable progress has been made in recent years in implementing equal treatment for men and women in the social welfare code and I am glad to report that this year's Social Welfare Bill will complete a programme of equal treatment which will ensure that all of the social assistance and insurance schemes operated by my Department are available equally to men and women.
The Social Welfare Bill, 1997, which is currently before the House, provides for the introduction of a new widower's non-contributory pension, which will be available to widowers on the same basis as currently applies to women, and for the amendment of the more restrictive conditions which apply to the benefits available for both widows and widowers under the occupational injuries benefit scheme.
The Bill also includes a number of other measures which will be of particular benefit to women. These include the introduction of new pro rata contributory pensions, which will benefit many women with sporadic employment records. The introduction of provisions to enable adult dependant's allowances to be retained in part when the spouse of a social welfare recipient takes up employment is another measure which will be of particular benefit to women who have found themselves trapped in a cycle of unemployment caused by the current arrangements. The Bill also provides for the extension of maternity benefit to self-employed women.
136 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Social Welfare the initiatives, if any, taken by his Department in 1995 and 1996 which were targeted at women; the budget allocated to each initiative; the actual amount spent on each; the budget for his Department in each of the years 1995 and 1996; and the amount of that budget exclusive of direct staffing and overhead costs. [7016/97]
It has been a central objective of mine since becoming Minister for Social Welfare to remove all traces of inequality as between men and women from the social welfare system. To this end, a number of major steps have been taken: The arrears of equal treatment payments owing to 70,000 married women, amounting to almost £300 million, have been paid; a new one-parent family payment was introduced in January 1997 and has replaced lone parent's allowance, deserted wife's benefit, deserted wives allowance and prisoner's wife's allowance. This new payment covers men and women equally, irrespective of whether they are married, separated, widowed or divorced or what their reasons are for becoming lone parents. A notable feature of this measure is that the requirement to prove desertion has been removed from the social welfare code, thus eliminating a requirement which was particularly difficult and degrading for many women; the Social Welfare Bill, 1997 which is currently before the House, provides for the introduction of a new widower's non-contributory pension, which will be available to widowers on the same basis as currently applies to women, and for the amendment of the more restrictive conditions which apply to the benefits available for both widows and widowers under the occupational injuries benefit scheme.
