The policy (launched March 2018) outlines the Arts Council's determination to proactively combat discrimination and address exclusion in the arts in Ireland, with reference to ten grounds of discrimination, of which gender is one. It is accompanied by an initial 3-year action plan where there are several general actions that have bearing for gender inequality and two specific gender related ones:
1. Publish aggregate information on award applicants and recipients with an immediate focus on gender and in the long-term further fields as appropriate.
2. Require Strategically Funded organisations to ensure their boards are gender balanced.
Data is being collected and published on both these actions.
In terms of individual awards there has always been a higher number of female applicants and recipients. However, there has tended to be gender dominance within specific artforms (e.g Music, Traditional arts). Since the introduction of the policy there has been a positive shift in this dominant trend but it will need to be assessed over some years.
c EU175,000