The Department of Information said yesterday that Ms Cristina also addressed the Ministerial Meeting that followed, where the main theme for discussion was the setting up of a European Gender Institute.

Norway, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey joined the 25 member states at the ministerial meeting.

“The accession of 10 new member states will present new challenges and increase the demands on the existing machinery in the EU’s effort to coordinate activity, particularly in the areas of research, information dissemination, benchmarking and monitoring across the union,” said the DOI.

The DOI said that in her contribution, Ms Cristina expressed support for the setting up of a European Gender Institute. She said there was a need for such an institute to collect, provide and disseminate gender-sensitive data and information, which is currently scattered across Europe and is difficult to access systematically. “The institute should develop a consultative function, developing tools and indicators for gender mainstreaming, monitoring and benchmarking member states and Regions,” said Ms Cristina. “It should not duplicate existing work but have a coordinating role, creating and sustaining networks, functioning as a link between researchers and policy-making at the EU level, the Directorates General of the Commission, social partners at EU level and national equality bodies,” she said.

Ms Cristina was accompanied in Limerick, Ireland, by Janet Mifsud, commissioner and chairman of the National Commission for Gender Equality, and Jean Killick, private secretary.