Wage-setting Mechanisms

Tuesday, 26 May 2026

Questions (936, 937, 938, 939)

Barry Ward

Question:

936. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of Ireland’s transposition of the Pay Transparency Directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40217/26]

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Barry Ward

Question:

937. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is satisfied that Ireland will be in a position to transpose the elements of the Pay Transparency Directive; if she will set out a timeline for this transposition; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40218/26]

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Barry Ward

Question:

938. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of concerns outlined by other EU member states in relation to their ability to transpose certain aspects of the Pay Transparency Directive specifically in relation to reporting on the gender pay gap; her views in relation to these difficulties, if such difficulties apply to Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40219/26]

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Barry Ward

Question:

939. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to the Pay Transparency Directive, the difficulties for Ireland in the transposition of that directive into Irish Law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40220/26]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality

I propose to take Questions Nos. 936, 937, 938 and 939 together.

The Pay Transparency Directive is crucial to empower workers, and especially women, to enforce their right to equal pay through a set of binding measures on pay transparency, to strengthen the transparency of pay systems, to improve public understanding of the relevant legal concepts, and to enhance enforcement of the rights and obligations relating to equal pay. It is also crucial to the financial and economic empowerment of women – a key objective under the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030. The 2024 gender pay gap in Ireland is estimated at 8.3% – this means that, on average, women are paid 8.3% less per hour than men. There are many likely reasons for this, including that women’s earning power can be impacted by periods of unpaid leave or part time work for caring responsibilities. Women are also under-represented in higher-paid decision-making roles, and there is evidence that, as prospective employees, women may be less likely than men to negotiate higher starting salaries with prospective employers.

The Government is fully committed to the complete and meaningful implementation of the Directive, with the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 transposing a large portion of the Directive, particularly in relation to Article 9 on Gender Pay Gap Reporting. The implementation of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act and associated regulations require employers to report their gender pay gap each year, and the measures that are being taken to eliminate or reduce the gap.

Work is ongoing at pace to develop the necessary legislation to transpose the remaining provisions of the Pay Transparency Directive as soon as possible, including the obligation for employers to carry out Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation and to categorise employees and calculate the gender pay gap in such categories. Officials have been working towards the June 7 deadline for implementation. However, a number of factors have impacted on this work, and the EU Commission has been informed that Ireland will not have the Directive fully transposed by the 7th June. Such factors affecting the transposition include the delay in completing a series of EU Commission workshops on the transposition of the Directive until late September 2025, and the employer guidance and toolkit developed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the European Commission was not published until the end of March this year. A dedicated Irish Employer Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation toolkit, based on the recently published EIGE toolkit, is being commissioned by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Employers will be invited to attend training workshops based on this adapted toolkit.

The Department will work with employers, employees and their representatives to support and enable implementation of the Directive, which will be on a phased basis once the passage of the legislation is complete. Employers will not be penalised for not having all elements of Directive completed in June 2026 and the Department has been working with stakeholders to communicate this message. At present, employers will remain obligated to calculate and publish information on their gender pay gap by the end of November and, following a small amendment to the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, employers will be obligated to report that information to the Minister via the dedicated Gender Pay Gap Portal for the 2026 Reporting Cycle.

Question No. 937 answered with Question No. 936.

Question No. 938 answered with Question No. 936.

Question No. 939 answered with Question No. 936.