asked the Taoiseach if, in the light of the failure of the Government to restore the allocation for the Council for the Status of Women to its level prior to 1988, he will make a statement on the future of the council.
Ceisteanna — Questions Oral Answers. - Council for the Status of Women.
7.
In 1988 the Council for the Status of Women received a grant of £90,000, an increase of £2,000 over their grant of £88,000 in 1987. The 1989 Estimates for Public Services provide for an allocation of £93,000 to the council. This will represent a further increase of £3,000 in funding for the council. The fact that the funding of the council has been increased at a time of financial stringency shows the Government's recognition of the role of the council.
Will the Minister of State outline the areas in which the council will work in 1989? Given the paltry increase of £3,000, is it a great disappointment to her that more money has not been made available to the Council for the Status of Women?
It is always a disappointment when we cannot get enough money but, as I said in my reply, at a time of financial stringency it shows a commitment that the amount of money available to the council has been increased this year. The future priorities of the council are a matter for them.
I take it that the Minister is aware of these priorities. Will she inform the House of what she sees as the priorities for the Council for the Status of Women?
It is not a matter for me to decide for the Council for the Status of Women — or any other agencies under the Department of the Taoiseach — on the priorities. My door has been open at all times since I became Minister to the Council for the Status of Women for the executive of that council to come to me with any proposals they may have and to hear my views in relation to them. However, at the end of the day it is a matter for the council to make a decision.
Will the Minister recollect that in 1986 the total amount given to the Council for the Status of Women — and other women's organisations — amounted to £189,000 and that in 1987 the amount was £140,000? It came from a subhead of the Vote of the Department of the Taoiseach where there was a Ministry for Women's Affairs with a subhead for women in their own right. I ask the Minister to consider seriously that a subhead and a ministry be restored so that women will get a subhead in their own right and organisations outside the Council for the Status of Women will be allowed to continue to survive because in 1988 they are getting nothing and in 1989 they will get nothing.
The figure of £140,000 which was made available in 1987 for women's organisations included the provision of £88,000 which was specially for the council. I said in my reply that was increased last year by £2,000 and this year by £3,000. Of the amount of money left out of the £140,000, Deputy Barnes will be aware that a substantial amount was spent on promotional activity of the Office of the Minister of State for Women's Affairs, not all of it, and it is incorrect to state that all of it is spent on women's organisations. It is also not correct to give the impression that women's organisations, apart from the Council for the Status of Women, have been neglected over the years because responsibility has been assigned by the Taoiseach to the various Government Ministers to look after women's organisations and the rights of women in each of their Government Departments. I indicated to the House some time ago that I was requesting on a six-monthly basis a report from each of the Government Ministers. As Deputy Barnes is aware, that report will be made available to this House and for publication before the end of next month.
Order. I am calling Deputy Dick Spring. I am looking for a final supplementary from Deputy Spring.
I recall the Minister of State saying she has an "open door" policy if not portfolio in relation to these matters. Will she state to the House what she sees as priorities for 1989 for the Council for the Status of Women? I can understand that she does not direct this body but surely she must be in a position to state to the House what she sees as priorities for them?
I must dissuade Members from widening the scope of this question.
With respect, I feel I am entitled to an answer to that question.
I answered it already twice.
The Minister is informing you that she has answered the question. As the questioner, I can say she has not answered the question at all. I am asking a very simple, straightforward question. What does the Minister with responsibility in these areas see as the priorities for this Council for the Status of Women?
For the third time, let me tell the Deputy it is a matter in the first instance for the council themselves to set their own priorities. Were I to interfere and set priorities for the council, the blame I would get in here would be that I was beginning to tell the council what to do. I do not believe in that. They should be entitled to set their own priorities.
A final supplementary from Deputy Barnes.
Let me ask the Minister again if she would not agree, particularly from her experience as former chairwoman of the Oireachtas Committee on Women's Rights, that it is the right of women to have a subhead?
The Deputy has already asked that question.
I did not get a reply. That is why I am asking it again.
The Chair has no control over such matters.
Very briefly——
Sorry, Deputy.
Very briefly, would the Minister accept that some major women's organisations such as Women's Aid in Limerick are now so lacking in funding that they may have to close their doors to battered wives?
That is a specific matter.
Has the Minister any suggestions as to where finance is to come from to assist those organisations?
Ar aghaidh. Ceist eile. An Teachta Michael D. Higgins.