Written Answers. - Departmental Policies.
Helen Keogh
Ceist:
154
Ms Keogh
asked the
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry
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.
[6971/97]
There are no nominating bodies involved in appointments to the boards of An Bord Glas, Coillte Teoranta, Bord na gCon and the Irish National Stud. When nominations are being invited in respect of the other four boards under the aegis of my Department nominating bodies are made aware of the Government's gender balance policy and are asked to follow a similar practice.
The details requested in respect of the other boards are as follows: Section 7 (b) of the First Schedule of the Agriculture (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988 provides that five of the ten ordinary members of the Teagasc Authority shall be persons nominated for appointment "by such organisations as the Minister may determine that are representative of persons engaged in agriculture or the promotion or development of the agricultural industry; and the Minister may appoint as members of Teagasc one or more persons nominated under this subparagraph by such an organisation as aforesaid or one or more persons nominated by a group, designated by the Minister, of such organisations as aforesaid".
For this purpose, the following organisations were designated by ministerial order of 30 June 1988: Irish Farmers' Association; Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association; Macra na Feirme; Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, and a group of 12 Teagasc trade unions-staff associations.
The An Bord Bia (Amendment) Act, 1996, provides that one of the ordinary members is appointed on the nomination of an organisation which the Minister considers to be representative of consumers.
The nominating bodies for the first members of the National Milk Agency were:
(a) Irish Farmers' Association, 4 members¹;
(b) Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, 1 member¹;
(c) Consumers' Association of Ireland, 1 member;
(d) RGDATA, 1 member;
(e) National Milk Traders' Association, 1 member;
(f) National Dairies' Association, 4 members.
¹ These are producer representatives who were nominated by the farm organisations to get the Agency started. In future, the producer representatives will be elected by the registered producers themselves, while the nomination system will remain for the others.
Section 7(1) of the Schedule to the Act provides that of the Authority: two shall be stewards of the Irish Turf Club nominated for appointment thereto by the stewards of that body; one shall be a steward of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee nominated for appointment thereto by the stewards of that body; two shall be representative of authorised racecourses nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of authorised racecourses; one shall be representative of horse breeders nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of horse breeders; one shall be representative of horse owners nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of horse owners; one shall be representative of horse trainers nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of horse trainers; one shall be representative of authorised bookmakers nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of authorised bookmakers; one shall be representative of persons employed in the horseracing industry nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of such persons; one shall be representative of racegoers nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of racegoers; one shall be representative of national hunt interests nominated for appointment thereto by the Racing Regulatory Body.
Section 7 (3) (a) of the schedule provides that in subparagraph (1) (c) to (j) the person appointed by the Minister in each case to be a member of the Authority shall be chosen by the Minister from a panel of at least three persons, containing as far as is practicable at least one male and one female nomination, submitted to the Minister by the representative interests concerned.
Section 7 (3) (b) provides that the representative interests concerned shall, when submitting nominations to the Minister under subparagraph (1) (a) to (j) create an equitable balance in those nominations from the interests which they represent.
Helen Keogh
Ceist:
155
Ms Keogh
asked the
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry
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.
[7003/97]
Helen Keogh
Ceist:
156
Ms Keogh
asked the
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry
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.
[7019/97]
I propose taking Questions Nos. 155 and 156 together.
Government policies on equality are adhered to in all measures undertaken and all the programmes, schemes and services of my Department are available equally to men and women thus ensuring no discrimination on the grounds of gender. In this regard, details of the commitments and progress made on equal opportunities for men and women within the programmes operated by my Department under the Structural Funds are contained in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 152 of today. The requirement that all proposals to Government must specifically address the impact on women of the measure proposed is also fulfilled.
The total budgets for my Department in 1995 and 1996 were £279.6 million and £422.5 million respectively. The amounts of those budgets exclusive of direct staffing and overhead costs in 1995 and 1996 were £166.9 million and £306.4 million respectively.
