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

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

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

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

County Development Board Administered By Local Authority Local Government Local Development State Agencies Social Partners Set up in 2000 New layer of regional admin Integrated Strategy for County Taskforce at National Level

County Development Board Administered By Local Authority Local Government Local Development County Enterprise Board State Agencies Vocational Educational Committee Social Partners

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 ,000 jobs created – average grant cost per job of €4,600

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

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

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

Gender Audit – 6 Areas of Enquiry 1. Organisational Context 2. The Budget 3. Staffing 4. Gender policies and practices 5. Activity/services 6. Social position of women

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

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

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

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