Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire, déanaim comhghairdeas ó chroí leis an Aire nua as a bheith ceaptha ina ról nua. Tá sé suntasach domsa mar bhall den Chomhaontas Glas mo chomhghleacaí a fheiceáil sa ról sin, ach freisin mar Ghael tá sé suntasach go bhfuil beirt Airí sa Roinn a bhfuil tacaíocht don teanga léirithe acu ag gach uile dheis go dtí seo. Guím gach rath ar a gcuid oibre amach anseo.

I will ask my questions in two parts to allow the relevant Minister or Minister of State an opportunity to answer. My first questions pertain to the equality budgeting outlined in the Estimates. Under the previous programme for Government, a pilot programme on equality budgeting was rolled out in a number of Departments in budget 2018. The equality budgeting objectives and performance indicators outlined in the Revised Estimates raise a few questions, not just on the attention paid to increased female participation in film and screen content supported by Fís Éireann but also on the future of equality budgeting, its success and whether we can improve on efforts made thus far.

In considering these issues, what is the status of the pilot programme that sets out to improve equality in all Departments and what is the proposed timeframe for its completion? Will the Department report on lessons learned from the pilot programme on equality budgeting to inform and improve equality budgeting in all Departments in the coming years? Has the Department considered following up on or implementing the recommendations in the OECD review of Ireland's equality budgeting?

The Revised Estimates set out the aims of increasing the number of applications received with female talent and increasing the number of successful applications received with female talent, both by 5%. Will the Minister indicate the starting point or baseline for those targets and whether they had a financial underpinning?

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