Dr. Graham Love:

I will follow up on the Deputy's gender question, although she indicated that she already knew the details. We conducted a review last year, chaired by Mrs. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, on the gender position in our higher education institutes. It made 12 recommendations and has been published. We have an implementation plan for those. For example, agreed targets and indicators of success should be included in our compacts with each institution to try to push this matter onwards.

I will provide a clear example. The main research funding agencies in this country - Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council - have mandated that higher education institutions, particularly the universities, must have the Athena SWAN accreditation in order to be eligible for funding. That Athena SWAN award is like an ISO standard for an institution's gender policy.