Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I already dealt fully with Deputy Pearse Doherty's amendment and stated I am not accepting it on this occasion.

As I mentioned, one of the reasons I brought forward this issue is that the ESRI recently published a gender analysis of the budgets from 2009 to 2013, inclusive. This analysis, which was funded by the Equality Authority, was exploratory and required significant resources to extend the capability of the SWITCH model to analyse this issue. It would require further significant resources to fully implement in the model the capacity to carry out analysis of budgets in this regard. However, it showed that those budgets did not particularly disadvantage anyone because the social welfare code and the tax code have been gender blind for a long time.

On the separate issue of the Private Members' debate tonight, I replied to the remarks made by Deputy Michael McGrath. It has been custom and practice, and, indeed, it has been governed by a Standing Order for a long time, that when we know there is imminent business we do not try to pre-empt it by having a preliminary discussion which takes away the advantage from the proposers of a particular motion. Private Members' time is less than an hour away and the Government will reply here through its spokesman later this evening.

Deputy Pearse Doherty alleged twice that the Government's record on equality - from the context, he is talking about equality between men and women - is poor. That does not stand up to any analysis on a day when a woman has been appointed Garda Commissioner and the recommendation to appoint her was from a woman Minister for Justice and Equality. When the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, the DPP and the chairman of the new police authority are women, it is hard to argue that the Government has not made significant progress in the advancement of women and in removing the glass ceilings which kept capable women from reaching their full potential for so many years. I reject the Deputy's allegation out of hand. Very significant progress on equality issues has been made by this Government.

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