IRELAND: Ireland is the leading European nation in terms of legislation already in place to safeguard equality for citizens, a gathering of EU ministers has heard.
At a meeting of EU Equality ministers in Limerick yesterday, a proposal was put forward to establish a European institute to monitor gender equality.
Yesterday's gathering was the first meeting of European ministers since the recent accession of ten EU states on May 1st under the Irish presidency.
The proposed European Gender Institute would be charged with co-ordinating and disseminating information on various issues of gender equality and inequality in different countries.
The "New Horizons for Gender Equality" Conference heard that gender gaps in employment and social inclusion will continue to be the focus of work on gender equality in an enlarged Union. Violence against women is a continuing manifestation of inequality which must be confronted and the low-level of participation of women in political and economic decision-making also needs to be addressed.
Effectively, the proposed European Gender Institute would operate in a similar fashion to the office of the Ombudsman.
The proposal will be presented to the next EU council meeting at the start of June and if supported will then go to the next meeting of EU heads of state in July.
Ministers from 16 European countries were present at yesterday's meeting and the other nine EU members were represented by senior civil servants.
Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr Willie O'Dea, said much surprise was expressed that Ireland was so far ahead of other European nations in terms of equality issues.
A European directive on equality is currently before the Dáil but Mr O'Dea pointed out that the bulk of equality legislation is already in place in Ireland following the introduction of the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act.
"We are widely regarded as one of the countries who have made most progress in terms of gender equality."
Mr O'Dea also defended the level of security around the hotel where the meeting took place.More than 300 gardaí were deployed over two days and a no-fly zone was established in the vicinity of the venue.