Equality Minister Norma Foley has announced €2 million in funding for various organisations running employment schemes to “support women in attaining a fair share of economic and financial power.”
In a press release published by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality today, the Fianna Fáil Minister said that “empowering women and girls” to overcome obstacles in the workplace was a key priority for the Government.
Foley described the allocation as a step forward in promoting employment opportunities for women and addressing issues such as the “gender pay gap”.
“I am pleased today to announce the successful organisations that will receive over €2 million in ESF+ grant funding,” Foley said.
“This funding is an important step forward in promoting equal employment opportunities for women. Empowering women and girls to overcome barriers, such as the gender pay gap, is a key priority for Government.”
Under the initiative, 13 organisations will receive grant awards ranging from €100,000 to €200,000 each. The Department stated that the objective of the funding is to remove barriers and improve access to employment for women.
Additional funding is expected to be allocated to the projects next year over the remainder of the Employment, Inclusion, Skills, and Training (EIST) programme, bringing total expenditure on the schemes to more than €2 million.
Grants were awarded to 13 groups across the country, including €119,621 to Dublin educational NGO An Cosán for its Women’s Springboard Employment Programme, and €118,214 to Limerick migrant rights organisation Doras Luimni for a project titled Women Beyond Borders.
Dundalk Institute of Technology was allocated €138,737.09 for its CareerARC Programme, while Women’s Collective Ireland was awarded €134,400 for its STEPS to Employment for Women initiative across Dublin, Clare, Mayo, Waterford, Wexford, and Westmeath.
Other recipients include lone-parent charity One Family, which was awarded €115,711 for an employability programme in Dublin and Munster, and Now Training and Employment Enterprise, which received €192,204 to support women who are “neurodiverse” or have learning difficulties across Dublin and Louth.
Regional community groups were also granted funding, with €199,670.14 awarded to North Cork and South-East Limerick group Ballyhoura Development, €191,772.30 to the Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board, €183,900.62 to the South and East Cork Area Development Partnership, €174,778.32 to Donegal training group People 1st, €170,777 to Bray and North Wicklow Area Partnership, €158,658.26 to Roscommon Integrated Development Company, and €158,214 to South Dublin County Partnership.
The funding is provided under the Gender Equality Action of the EIST Programme from 2021 to 2027, co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus.
The broader programme represents an overall investment of more than €1.08 billion, consisting of €573 million from the State and €508 million in EU funding.
The Department stated that the scheme forms part of commitments under the National Strategy for Women and Girls from 2025 to 2030, with its first Action Plan spanning from 2026 to 2028.
The allocations follow previous State funding directed towards diversity and representation initiatives.
As reported by Gript on the 19th of December 2023, the Department of Housing previously granted over €230,000 in taxpayer funding to nine Irish political parties under a scheme to assist them in running more women candidates and “people of diversity” in local elections.
However, when asked by Gript to explain what “people of diversity” actually means, the Department was unable to offer an exhaustive list.
Government policy on workplace gender parity has also focused on mandatory corporate reporting under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act, which requires employers with more than 250 staff to publish differences in average earnings between male and female personnel.
Under data released in 2022, national broadcaster RTÉ reported an overall average pay gap of 13% in favour of male staff across its total workforce, while female part-time employees at the organisation recorded a median hourly pay rate 18% higher than male part-time workers.
However, then-RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes was quick to clarify that this was not due to discrimination, saying there is no “equal pay gap” in RTÉ.
“So gender has no impact on pay where women and men are employed in the same roles,” she said.
“The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of all men and women across a workforce, not just those in similar jobs, or working patterns, or with similar competencies, or experience.
“A gender pay gap does not indicate discrimination or an absence of equal pay for equal value work – it reports a gender representation gap.”