1 / 15

Gender Budgeting in Ireland Economic v. Equality Policy?

Gender Budgeting in Ireland Economic v. Equality Policy?. Regional Conference The Challenges of Engendering Economics – Way Towards Social Justice and Equal Opportunities 1 April, 2008 Tbilisi, Georgia Sheila Quinn (quinnsheila@eircom.net). Regional Pilot Initiative.

junius
Download Presentation

Gender Budgeting in Ireland Economic v. Equality Policy?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Gender Budgeting in IrelandEconomic v. Equality Policy? Regional Conference The Challenges of Engendering Economics – Way Towards Social Justice and Equal Opportunities 1 April, 2008 Tbilisi, Georgia Sheila Quinn (quinnsheila@eircom.net)

  2. Regional Pilot Initiative • Funded by Gender Equality Unit within Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform • External Expertise – government sponsored, civil society not involved • Within framework of Gender Mainstreaming

  3. Participating Agencies • Characteristics: volunteered, strong track record tackling social exclusion and inequality, closer to community than to government • Local Area Partnership – city level remit • County Enterprise Board • Vocational Educational Committee County Development Board

  4. Local Area Partnerships • Co-ordination of local response to social & economic exclusion • 38 in total in areas of extreme disadvantage • Bring together all local players – consultation a major component • ESF & ERDF until change in Objective 1

  5. County Development Board • Set up in 2000 • New layer of regional admin • Integrated Strategy for County • Taskforce at National Level

  6. County Development Board

  7. County Enterprise Boards • 35 Enterprise Boards in total • Set up in 1993 by statute • Remit is to promote micro-enterprises • Activities include grants, training, mentoring, advice and counselling • 1994-1999 20,000 jobs created – average grant cost per job of €4,600

  8. Remit & Structure of CEB • To promote micro-enterprise at County level • Clearly defined parameters within which to operate • Small specifically-targeted funding streams • All facets of organisation and operation governed by government guidelines • Distinguishing feature – local response

  9. Roscommon CEB • Rural West of Ireland • County Pop: 52,000 • Annual Operating Budget - €1m • Strand of Activity (2003) • Grants - €340,873 • Soft supports - €202,561

  10. Approach – 1. Research • Gender Audit: • Highlight policies governing spend • Uncover constraints on spend • Map the spend, disaggregated • Reveal the equity/inequity issues • Demonstrate the relevance of budget to policy implementation

  11. Gender Audit – 6 Areas of Enquiry • Organisational Context • The Budget • Staffing • Gender policies and practices • Activity/services • Social position of women

  12. Approach – 2. Participatory • Review findings with representative staff • Demonstrate tools: • Gender aware policy appraisal • Gender disaggregated beneficiary assessment • Gender-disaggregated expenditure incidence analysis

  13. Audit Findings • Easy to quantify the gender disparities • Identified the constraints attached to funding • Identified the low level of translation of gender/equality policy • Demonstrated need for positive action • Revealed the need to interrogate the dominance of economic policy

  14. Economic vs Equality Policy • The role of economic theorizing in policy making – perceived wisdom • Deadweight loss and displacement • Internationally tradable services • Constraint – inability to adjust economic policy to local conditions • Economic policy wins out over Equality Commitments

  15. Key Observations • Significant adjustments in funding to redress the low level of funding to women’s enterprises • Increased gender awareness and gender analytic skills • Inability to adapt economic policy to local situation – the main structural inequalities remain in place • Initial lack of high-level ownership meant no follow through

More Related