A study examined the position of Irish women in the following types of human resource development activities cofinanced by the European Social Fund (ESF): basic/foundation skills training; postfoundation skills training; enterprise support schemes; continuing training for the employed; and apprenticeship training. Representatives of 11 state agencies and delivering organizations were interviewed, and data supplied by state administering agencies/organizations were used to calculate gender differentials across 74 human resource submeasures. It was discovered that, although most agencies and government departments have equal opportunities statements/policies, those policies mainly address employment-related issues but not access to or representation in various forms of training. Access of older women and single parents to training schemes was especially problematic, and women were overrepresented in basic/foundation skills training and underrepresented in management training and all forms of training for specific sectors other than clothing manufacture, tourism, and services. (The bibliography lists 36 references. Appendixes constituting approximately 25% of this document contain the interview questions and 27 tables/figures detailing the following: programs cofinanced by the European Social Fund; sectoral and occupational analyses of training courses; socioeconomic analysis of training program participation; and gender ratios in training agencies and institutions.) (MN)