Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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576. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the actions he has taken to progress the recommendation of the Different Paths, Shared Experiences: Ethnic Minority Women and Local Politics in Ireland research funded by the gender equality unit of his Department. [51927/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I was honoured to fund jointly (with the Irish Research Council) this important piece of research as part of the facilitating role played by my Department under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS), and to launch the resulting report earlier this year. Information on the report was made available to all Departments, State Agencies and national Traveller and Roma organisations represented on the NTRIS Steering Committee.

The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future recognises that there is a need for greater diversity and gender equality in local government, and commits to empowering local authorities to encourage improved gender and ethnic mix in local elections.

The recommendations of the ‘Different Paths, Shared Experiences’ report aim to improve the participation of ethnic minority women in local politics and so are consistent with those commitments. The recommendations are wide-ranging and are relevant to a number of Government Departments, to political parties, local authorities, training organisations and wider civil society.

Some recommendations are already in train. For example, in the area of combating racism, prejudice and bigotry, the Deputy will be aware that the Minister of Justice is developing new legislation to deal with hate crime while a National Plan Against Racism has recently been finalised which I will be submitting shortly for consideration by the Government.

I can assure the Deputy that the report recommendations will be examined in the preparation of new strategies being developed by my Department to replace the three equality strategies currently under review: the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, the National Strategy for Women and Girls and the Migrant Integration Strategy.

Finally, I should note that my Department provides core funding to one of the report sponsors, the National Traveller Women’s Forum (NTWF), which seeks to empower Traveller women in working towards full (gender) equality and to support them in taking leadership roles within their own and the wider community. Additional funding is being made available under the Dormant Account Fund plan, which is subject to approval by the Department of Rural and Community Development, to allow the NTWF to progress a number of specific report recommendations and to support the provision of training, both for Traveller women and for elected officials.