Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 416: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if figures are available to indicate the proportion of journalists here who are male and female; and if measures are in place or are planned to ensure gender balance. [8542/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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There are no official statistics available on the gender breakdown of journalists in Ireland. Employment in the media is covered by the terms of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004, which prohibit discrimination, including discrimination on grounds of gender equality, and permit positive action measures to promote equal opportunities between men and women. The Acts also provide mechanisms for investigation of complaints of discrimination.

The media have an important role to play in the context of gender equality. This is reflected in the platform for action agreed at the fourth UN world conference on women in Beijing in 1995. The importance of the media extends beyond the gender breakdown of those working in the sector and includes the extent to which the media reinforce or challenge gender stereotypes and deal with issues of gender. Under the equality for women measure, my Department funded the women active in diversity equality, or WADE, project in RTE. As part of the project, a diversity database has been compiled for the use of programme makers. The database includes women with specialist knowledge from a diversity of backgrounds who are willing to speak on air on a range of topics. The database is available to male and female programme makers. The WADE project also carried out an audit within RTE to identify organisational structures and processes which pose a barrier to women's career progression.