A new agency to tackle domestic violence and a €148 million package to foster gender equality have been unveiled by the Government as part of the National Women's Strategy 2007-2016.
Speaking at the launch yesterday the Taoiseach said that out of the €148 million set aside to address gender equality during the lifetime of the new National Development Plan, €58 million would be used to fund specific initiatives under the new strategy.
"Women have long been the linchpin in the Irish family and Irish society. The fact that so many now also work outside the home has made a significant contribution to the growth we know as the Celtic Tiger," he said.
"The number of women in the workforce has almost doubled over the past ten years. The Government recognises that life is not easy for working mothers and the strategy contains actions and targets which aim to address those challenges."
Mr Ahern said that 30 years after the introduction of equality legislation relatively few women had yet risen to key decision-making positions in Irish life.
"This strategy contains a range of training, mentoring and networking initiatives to encourage more women to contribute more frequently at the highest levels in Irish life. The Government is determined to ensure that progress is made rapidly."
The Tánaiste Michael McDowell announced a new office to deal with domestic violence. He said that the National Women's Strategy contained a plan to tackle domestic violence.
"The National Crime Council carried out a detailed study of domestic violence in 2005 and found that 15 per cent of women, or about one in seven, have experienced abusive behaviour of a physical, sexual or emotional nature from a partner.
"When you consider that, on that basis, the actual number of female victims exceeds 200,000 we get some sense of the gravity of the problem."
Mr McDowell said the Government was committed to addressing domestic violence and violence against women by increased funding through the Department of Justice and the Health Service Executive.
"Still, we can do more. The heinous crime that is domestic violence needs to be tackled with even more resolve and resources. In order to achieve this, the Government recently approved my proposal to establish a new Executive Office within my department to provide enhanced leadership and to better co-ordinate the work of the many agencies and NGOs which collectively support the victims of this violence," said the Tánaiste. "The new office will be called Cosc (meaning stop) - Irish Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and will include all types of violence in the home including against men and children."
Mr McDowell said women in his party, the Progressive Democrats, accounted for 50 per cent of its TDs, an unrivalled record. Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said: "50 per cent of something small is not hard to get," but she said she hoped in time her party would have a similar proportion of women TDs.
Labour's Róisín Shortall called the strategy a disappointment. "This document represents somewhat of a deathbed conversion. You have to ask why the Government has produced this so close to an election when they've had ten years to do something about it. The proposals on addressing domestic violence fall considerably short of expectations."