Plus ca change...? Gender mainstreaming of the Irish National Development Plan

Abstract

Plus ca change...? Gender mainstreaming of the Irish National Development Plan examines the gender mainstreaming of the Irish National Development Plan. Gender mainstreaming means incorporating a gender equality perspective into mainstream policies as these are developed, implemented and evaluated. In Ireland, gender mainstreaming is required for all policies and programmes funded through the 51bn Euro National Development Plan 2000 to 2006. Gender mainstreaming is implemented in the National Development Plan through nine specific commitments. Each of these commitments has been operationalised since the implementation of the NDP in early 2000. However, the progress in relation to achieving each of these is quite uneven. The paper identifies a number of contributory factors impacting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming including difficulties in relation to the level of knowledge pertaining to gender equality within the policy-making system, the focus and structure of the policy-making system, the crosscutting nature of gender mainstreaming and the lack of sanctions or incentives to encourage its implementation.