Vol. 440 No. 4
142 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the provision made to ensure equal participation between women and men on all human resources programmes co-funded by the European Union in 1994-1995; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
My Department is the national authority for the European Social Fund in Ireland. In that context I have responsibility to ensure that all EU co-financed human resources measures are delivered in accordance with the regulations which govern the provision of financial support from the European Social Fund. Over the period 1994-1999 those regulations place emphasis on the need to ensure a proper gender balance on co-financed education, training and employment schemes. Developments in this respect will be regularly monitored in partnership with the European Commission.
In 1992, 37 per cent of participants on programmes supported by the European Social Fund were female.
