asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on the progress the Government have made in implementing the recommendations contained in the Report of the Mid-Decade Conference on the United Nations Decade for Women held in Copenhagen in 1980.

Ireland's national report which will be submitted to the Secretary-General of the 1985 End of Decade World Conference will be a full study of progress made in implementing the recommendations contained in the Report of the Mid-Decade Conference held in Copenhagen in 1980, and indeed will report on the implementation of the recommendations for the decade as a whole.

The members of the committee established to prepare for the World Conference, representing both governmental and non-governmental groups, have furnished much useful information for incorporation in the finished report.

It is my expectation that the national report will be completed and forwarded to the Conference Secretary-General by mid-May, in accordance with UN guidelines.

Recognising that presumably the report will be very detailed could she give any indication as to what progress has been made towards the implementation of the objectives set out in 1975 and again in 1980?

I do not have any details at present but the report to which I referred in a previous question will contain all that information. I should like to remind the Deputy that this report covered a wide area of issues relating to women, such as migrant women, women in the Third World, childbirth, post-natal care, nutrition, equality of rights and so on. We will be able to present a very good report on the basis of the themes of the United Nations end of decade conference in terms of education, health and development.

To reduce the dimensions of the question, could the Minister say what specific steps have been taken by the Government since 1980 to implement or effect the action plan as they affect Irish women?

All this is contained in the report and it would take far too long for me now to identify the many areas in which progress has been made since 1980.

What areas?

The areas of education and health.

Could the Minister specify what has been done in the area of education to eliminate discrimination?

I refer the Deputy to the Programme for Action in Education and to proposals by the Minister for Education to eliminate sexism in education.

Could the Minister be more specific in regard to the proposals for education which have led to the elimination of discrimination against women which she has cited as part of the general report to the United Nations?

The Deputy should put down a separate question in that regard to the Minister for Education.

The Minister does not want to educate us.

5.