Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ms O'Connor referred to Scotland and the gender budgeting that is under way there. Is she in a position to provide examples of other countries which employ similar methods or in which social indicators of some type are used? How easy would it be to achieve consistency in respect of indicators across the European Union? In that regard, I refer to the PISA statistics published this morning. One of the difficulties faced by those responsible for PISA surveys in respect of literacy and numeracy is ensuring that there is some form of consistency in the questions asked in the states in which those surveys are carried out. In the context of indicators relating to women, how easy would it be to ensure consistency across the Union?

Mr. Doorley referred to the need to use different indicators and stated that one relating to the numbers in temporary employment should come into play. How would such an indicator contemplate the fact that many young people who are students might take up part-time or temporary work during their summer or winter recesses? How can we ensure that the statistics relating to these individuals will not skew the results? Mr. Doorley also referred to a general indicator in respect of youth unemployment. Is he of the view that there is also a need to examine migration rates? It is a well-accepted fact that the youth unemployment rate in Ireland would probably be higher were it not for the fact that people take the boat or the plane and travel abroad. Should migration rates be included in the indicators?

My final question relates to funding and is for both of our guests. I take the point that benchmarks are currently not in place and I presume that action will have to be taken in order to address that fact. Are our guests of the view that the Commission should have a role in the context of fining those who do not make the benchmarks or should it support them through the provision of additional funding or whatever? Will they indicate if the carrot or the stick be used in this regard?