Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Norma Foley)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Second Stage of this important legislation. At the outset, I would like to thank the House for facilitating the taking of all Stages of the Bill today. The Bill provides for two separate and important issues. First, the Bill includes amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998. The proposed amendments and subsequent regulations to be made under the Bill will legally oblige employers in scope of the legislation to report their gender pay gap information via the gender pay gap portal.

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality first introduced gender pay gap reporting in 2022 following the enactment of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021. Reporting was introduced on a phased basis. As of 2025 employers with over 50 employees must report on their gender pay gap by publishing it on their own website or making it otherwise publicly available. The Department has now developed a centralised database called the gender pay gap portal which launched on a voluntary basis last year. The amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998 contained in this Bill, which are purely technical in nature, will make the use of this portal mandatory for all employers in scope of the legislation.

I would like to emphasise that the use of the gender pay gap portal is not an additional burden on employers and SMEs. Employers with over 50 staff are already obliged to report on their gender pay gap and publish the report on their own website. Mandatory use of the portal will provide this information in a centralised manner allowing employees, researchers and the general public to view and compare gender pay gap information across year, employer and sector.

I am pleased to say that throughout the development and voluntary launch of the gender pay gap portal our social partners have been incredibly supportive with IBEC a key partner in promoting the portal to its members. I also want to note that this legislation, while not directly transposing elements of the pay transparency directive, will assist with its transposition.

I will be bringing further legislation to the Houses in the coming months to complete the transposition of the directive. Mandatory use of the portal and having this information available on a centralised database will help us to progress our efforts to close the gender pay gap by highlighting the difference to make a difference.

The Bill also includes amendments to the Institutional Burials Act 2022 to include first cousins as eligible family members who can participate in an identification programme under the Act. The 2022 Act provides for the excavation, recovery, analysis, identification and reburial of remains which have been buried in a manifestly inappropriate manner on land associated with a former residential institution in which a public body had or has a relevant role.

Part 4 of the Act provides for an identification programme. It allows for samples to be taken from eligible family members who wish to participate and for their DNA profiles to be compared with DNA profiles from recovered remains. The Act defines an eligible family member as a person who has reasonable grounds to believe that they are the child, parent, sibling, half-sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, half-niece, half-nephew, grand-niece or grand-nephew of a person who is buried at an intervention site. The policy intention of this definition was to enable participation in as inclusive a way as possible by a range of relatives. It was drafted to reflect the technology that was available at that time and which could reliably establish a familial link. The inclusion of first cousins was raised during the passage of the legislation through the Houses. However, the scientific advice provided at that time highlighted challenges with the inclusion of first cousins due to greater variability of DNA which would make it notably more difficult to draw conclusions about a familial link than with the other third-order relatives.

Earlier this year, Forensic Science Ireland informed me of new scientific developments which have emerged since the enactment of the legislation and can allow for DNA matching of sufficient quality to support the inclusion of first cousins in an identification programme. On foot of this updated advice in April, the Government approved my proposal to amend the Act to include first cousins. I was keen to move quickly because I know that there are first cousins who are interested in participating in the identification programme under way in Tuam. I am now deducing the amendments to the Houses at the earliest opportunity as the age profile of some of those who wish to take part in the Tuam identification programme means that time is of the essence to them.

I will now outline the key Parts of the Bill as initiated. Part 1 of the Bill contains the Short Title and details of the Bill commencement, with Part 2 coming into operation following a commencement order and Part 3 coming into operation upon enactment.

Section 2 of the Bill amends the Employment Equality Act 1998. subsections (A), (C), and 1 insert the requirement for employers to publish their gender pay gap information directly to me as Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality. Subsection (B) allows me to make regulations as to how, where and when employers should report this information to me. As previously mentioned, employers will report this information directly to me via the gender pay gap portal. Subsection (D) provides for the recording of information being reported to me in adherence with GDPR and data protection legislation.

Subsections (F) and (G) provide for a number of measures related to the information to be reported to the Minister and its publication. Regulations made under this section, which are currently being drafted, will lay out the criteria the information must comply with. This includes ensuring the information is accurate and the employer’s statement does not contain any personal data or offensive or discriminatory language.

In addition, the regulations will allow comparisons to be made with the statistical information submitted. The new subsections will allow me to publish information that employers have already submitted during the voluntary reporting period since the portal's launch in November 2025. They will also allow the unpublication of information that may directly or indirectly identify a person.

Part 3 of the Bill amends the Institutional Burials Act 2022 to provide for the inclusion of first cousins in an identification programme conducted under that Act. It also provides for transitional arrangements so that first cousins can participate in an identification that is already commenced under the Act, as is the case in Tuam.

Section 3 expands the definition of “eligible family member” to include first cousins. It includes the first cousin of a deceased person in the category of “eligible family member” whose participation in an identification programme can be objected to by a child, parent, sibling or half sibling of the same person.

It also adds a first cousin to the list of family members for the purpose of making final arrangements for recovered remains of a deceased relative.

Section 4 contains a number of transitional provisions. Subsections (1) and (2) will allow first cousins who may have previously applied to participate in an identification programme to reapply following the legislative amendments in this Bill. This is particularly relevant in the context of the ongoing Tuam identification programme. Subsections (3), (4) and (5) provide for situations where a first cousin applies to participate in an identification programme and an eligible family member of the same deceased person has previously objected to another person's participation in that identification programme. In such circumstances the director will make reasonable efforts to contact the previous objector to ascertain if they also wish to object to the participation of the first cousin. Subsection (6) defines "identification programme" for the purposes of this section.

I sincerely thank colleagues for their attention and I look forward to hearing their thoughts on these important amendments. I commend the Bill to the House.

Deputy Claire Kerrane

Before I begin, I want to put on the Dáil record my welcome for the release of Robert Pether who is a resident of County Roscommon. He returned home from Iraq yesterday. I take the opportunity to acknowledge him, his wife and his family. I was there with them yesterday as he returned to Dublin Airport. It was a very special moment that will remain with me forever. I wish him and his family all the very best.

I appreciate this legislation is timely, particularly in terms of Tuam and the extension to first cousins in terms of DNA. We are all aware that there is an age factor, with people getting older. People firmly believe loved ones' remains are in Tuam and they want the opportunity to have the remains of their loved ones identified and buried appropriately according to their wishes. I have no issue with the legislation before us. Similarly, I have no issue with centralising the gender pay gap portal, which has already been launched, and making reporting via that system mandatory.

Listening to the Minister, I thought of those people in Tuam, and the fact that we are in a rush to get this through because we want DNA to be able to be collected from first cousins and put to use in the processing that is under way. That then reminds me of time and the time that survivors, who are locked out of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, have. I do not understand the purpose of having a special advocate in place if, when she does her report and calls for the expansion of that payment scheme, she is ignored.

What will the Minister do following the High Court judgment in February on Temple Hill and St. Joseph's? There are survivors for whom time is of the essence. They are locked out of the scheme over the silly issue of them having been in the institution for less than six months. As far as I am concerned, it is entirely unacceptable that any survivor is excluded from the scheme. Some of them will have had a similar experience to those in Tuam and yet they are excluded.

I again call on the Minister to look at all survivors and at the report by the special advocate and not to ignore her request. Every year this payment scheme is returning money in the millions. There is no excuse for leaving out survivors. Temple Hill was one of the institutions that was cited and part of that High Court action and judgment back in February. What a shame that survivors are forced to go to the High Court to seek recognition and respect in terms of this payment scheme. Every year money is sent back unspent and yet so many survivors are excluded. They do not have time on their hands either.

Temple Hill was where Michael Grant spent the first year of his life. I have referenced his case on the floor of the Dáil and in committee with the Minister many times. I cannot sit in front of Michael Grant and tell him why he is excluded. He was in Temple Hill for his first year. He had no illness and no issues with his health.

His mother paid for him to be there for the first year, yet we deem Temple Hill a hospital and say it will not be one of the institutions covered. It was not a hospital for Michael Grant. He will say time is of the essence and that he remains excluded. He is the same as any other survivor but he is being treated differently. I have to raise his case on the floor of the Dáil again. Michael is one of many survivors being excluded.

This legislation is important, particularly in relation to Tuam and the work under way there. I commend everybody involved in that work. It is difficult. I particularly commend the local community, who have given space in their family homes to allow the process of finding remains to continue.

There have been repeated calls for a forensic examination of the site at Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, County Tipperary. Those calls have not gone away. When it comes to this issue we cannot ever do enough, given the hurt and pain the survivors live with to this day. More should be done in terms of Sean Ross Abbey. Anything that can be done should be done.

The move in terms of Tuam and first cousins is welcome but I reiterate my point: the institutions payment scheme is failing too many survivors because of the institution they were in, or because they were boarded out or were there under six months. It is unacceptable. I say again it is unacceptable to return millions at the end of each year unspent in a scheme, where we have survivors who have suffered, live with the pain and are excluded, as if they have not suffered enough.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh

I acknowledge the contribution from my colleague, Deputy Kerrane, who addressed the provisions of the Bill related to institutional burials. I also acknowledge the work done by my colleague Kathleen Funchion, MEP, on the whole area of mother and baby homes. These are deeply important matters of dignity and justice for families seeking answers. It is important to mention the Bessborough mother and baby home and the denial of justice for the families of those buried there, who will not receive the same recognition as Tuam if building works go ahead on that site. We can never talk about this subject without acknowledging the wonderful work of Catherine Corless. We would not be here discussing this today if it were not for her. We owe her a debt of gratitude and will forever. I acknowledge the families as well. I know some of the families and some of the individuals who spent time in Tuam, and I acknowledge the trauma they have experienced from that time. It is appalling that those who were there for under six months are excluded. As Deputy Kerrane said, millions have been sent back. There is no rhyme or reason to this. It is cruelty upon cruelty to exclude people from this payment scheme.

As enterprise, tourism and employment spokesperson for Sinn Féin, I will focus on the gender pay gap reporting provisions. Employers are already required to collect and publish gender pay gap information but the Bill introduces a mandatory requirement for that information to be reported directly to the Minister. I recognise the importance of having this information centrally available. However, I am also acutely conscious of the enormous administrative burden already facing small and medium enterprises. Businesses are dealing with increasing compliance requirements, rising costs and considerable pressures on their time and resources. We must ensure that additional reporting obligations, which I agree are necessary, are proportionate, straightforward and do not unnecessarily duplicate work already being undertaken.

The bigger issue is what happens after the information is collected. Unless that information drives meaningful action, we risk creating another administrative exercise without delivering real change. We must remember who pays the price for that failure. It is overwhelmingly women who experience the consequences of the gender pay gap through lower earnings, reduced career opportunities and, ultimately, lower pensions.

I wish to send solidarity to those who are in that category and the women who will be out tomorrow on strike who want to be in doing their jobs. I again call on the Minister and the Government to do something to stop that, let common sense prevail and let pay talks be pay talks.

An Ceann Comhairle

I ask the Deputy to stick to the content.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh

I want to see a clear commitment from the Government that the information that will be gathered here will be actively used to identify inequalities to hold employers accountable and to deliver measurable improvements.

Deputy Daniel Ennis

I welcome this Bill for both its updating of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act and its expansion of the identification programme to include first cousins. The measures of strength and transparency under the Employment Equality Act are also welcome, but Ireland's unadjusted gender pay gap is estimated at 8.3% in 2024. We know that for women with children, women of colour and women with disabilities this is even greater. However, closing the gender pay gap requires more than just collecting data. It requires fairer childcare systems, stronger maternity protections and proper recognition of the value of care work in our society.

Turning to the Institutional Burials Act, extending eligibility to first cousins is an important step for families seeking answers about their loved ones. Mother and baby homes, Magdalen laundries and industrial schools are part of our country's darkest and most shameful history. It is a history of incarceration and cover-ups in which anyone who tried to speak out was shamed and a history in which the State was deeply implicated for which it must now answer. A piece I read recently really hit me and has stayed with me. It said, "The children were never lost; if a baby goes missing, the police get called, social services become involved. The babies born at the mother and baby home ... [in] Tuam [were not lost they] ... were discarded."

While the children of Tuam are finally receiving attention, the State's responsibility cannot end there. We cannot claim that its work is done until that justice has been served. How can justice be served when we do not know where over 800 children and 19 women are buried at Bessborough? How can justice be served when in Sean Ross Abbey an investigation revealed that at least 1,000 babies died there? This is something that we still do not know the extent of. How can we claim to have confronted this history when so much remains unanswered?

Ministers cannot simply say that Bessborough or Sean Ross Abbey does not meet the criteria and consider the matter closed. When the Institutional Burials Act was initially brought forward, the committee's report emphasised that the legislation should be drafted so that as many sites as possible could be included. It warned that a large number of conditions and restrictions will prevent this from happening. Now, we have seen its warnings come true with families still fighting for answers. An Coimisiún Pleanála's decision to grant planning permission for apartments at Bessborough is a further slap in the face for survivors who have spent years advocating for justice. The Government must release the archaeological reports and burial records relating to Bessborough. How can planning permission be granted when the commission of investigation found it highly likely that unmarked burial grounds remain on that site? Where is the justice for those children? The Government must compulsory purchase order, CPO, the remaining land at Bessborough.

The country owes an enormous debt to Catherine Corless. Her work forced Ireland to confront a history that so many refused to face. Despite being told repeatedly to stop searching, she persisted. Her determination has shown why we cannot accept silence or delay when families are still waiting for answers. Speaking recently about her work in Tuam, she said:

I also must mention Bessborough. There are 900 babies missing there, nobody seems to care. They want to come in and build apartments over the plots, which is horrific. I don't know it got to that. But that must be stopped and those babies must be found as well.

Catherine's words expose the failure of the State's response that leaves families at some sites still fighting for the recognition and investigation their loved ones deserve. The obligation to find these children cannot depend on whether a site fits criteria that the Government itself has set. Survivors and families should not have to spend their lives campaigning for the State to accept its responsibilities. They deserve answers and action while they are here to see it. These women and children were failed by the State, and we cannot continue to fail them.

Deputy Jen Cummins

I express support for both parts of this Bill, including the gender pay gap element of it. Currently, the gender pay gap in this country is at 10.8%. I welcome mechanisms to increase the reporting because when we have more data, we can see exactly what the difficulty is. I was trying to figure out how to explain the gender pay gap to somebody. If two people are working in the same company and they work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the man will get paid from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but with the current 10.8%, the woman will get paid until 4.08 p.m. and then will do it for free for the rest of the day.

In 2026, that is a shocking situation to be in. Sometimes I am flabbergasted that we are in this situation, so I welcome any ability to change that.

Regarding the second part of the Bill, I support the addition of first cousins to this element of the institutional burials Bill. To hear of the babies and children buried at Tuam is utterly heartbreaking. They are somebody's child and, as Deputy Ennis said, they were discarded there. No conversation about mother and baby homes can ever happen in this Chamber without thanking Catherine Corless for the work that she has done. I send my thoughts and thanks to those people who are doing the delicate work of trying to find those babies in Tuam. That must be a very difficult situation so I thank them. I would also caution that for every fight that had to happen for Tuam, and it was a fight every single step of the way - and there are still fights for it - that is the same situation that is going on for Bessborough. I would like to encourage the people who are every single day campaigning to make sure that apartments are not build on Bessborough to keep going because people like Catherine Corless kept going. People like Councillor Noelle Brown, a Social Democrats councillor, has for decades been talking about mother and baby homes, and she is still campaigning. I encourage those people to keep fighting. We are supporting them. We are really hoping that something can happen in Bessborough that prevents this building of apartments.

Deputy Liam Quaide

I welcome the provision in this Bill extending to first cousins the right to participate in efforts to identify the remains of people buried at former institutions. That is a sensible and necessary change. However, I wish to raise the case of the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, where the burial places of 859 children and 19 women remain unaccounted for, according to the commission of investigation. Think about that. There are 859 children and 19 mothers whose families still do not know where they are buried. What is the Government's position? It is that an intervention under the Institutional Burials Act cannot proceed because the burial locations have not been established. How can the Government use the fact that these children's burial places remain unknown as a reason not to investigate? Meanwhile, planning permission has been upheld for 106 apartments on part of the former Bessborough grounds, despite the unresolved questions about where these children are buried. The then Minister for children who oversaw the commission of investigation, Katherine Zappone, has questioned whether sufficient efforts were made to establish the locations of these burials. Why has the Government declined to pursue a comprehensive investigation of the site? Why are we contemplating further development before these fundamental questions have been answered? I acknowledge the extraordinary persistence of the survivors, their families and other campaigners who have fought for answers for years. We are legislating today to extend the rights of families to participate in identifying remains. That is welcome, but what use are those rights to the families of Bessborough if the State has no credible plan to establish where their loved ones are buried? The Government must now act on the entirely legitimate demands of survivors and campaigners to protect the site, investigate it properly and establish what happened to these children and mothers, including where they are buried.

Deputy Sinéad Gibney

I too welcome the two elements of this Bill. Speaking first to the gender pay gap issues, the transparency of the central availability of this information will be a step forward. I would disagree slightly perhaps with the impact this potentially has on SMEs as overly bureaucratic because, of course, any companies under the 50 threshold will not be impacted by it. However, I emphasise the point that knowing about a gap and doing something about it are two very different things. Gender pay discrepancy persists in this society and we must do more than simply finding out the information. I appreciate that this phase of the work is about establishing that, but it is slow going. Until we have that complete picture we really cannot make meaningful change because what we cannot measure we cannot change. Unfortunately, as long as gender pay discrepancy exists in our society, then we are working for free, and that is at a time when women also provide the unpaid care of much of society, disproportionately to men. All of these elements compounded mean we face serious disadvantage.

The separate piece of this legislation around access by cousins to the institutional burials scheme is really important. However, as others have raised, the arbitrary nature of different sites being excluded, and the ways and the justification the Government has brought forward for those sites being excluded, is hugely problematic. Arbitrary decisions and metrics that have applied to various schemes associated with mother and baby homes mean this is not taking a human rights-based approach and it is not trauma informed.

Once again, victims of State wrongdoing are treated with suspicion and mistrust instead of the care and compassion this State should be showing them. I urge that every effort is made to make sure that those people who have relations associated with other sites, not just Tuam, get access to the schemes that are appropriate to them and finally find justice. I have dealt so much with this community of survivors. People spend their whole lives upskilling in human rights and getting master's qualifications in order that they can fight for their cause. We have heard about them today, including Catherine Corless, as an investigator, Noelle Brown, as a survivor, and others. They must get the justice they seek.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Seán Canney)

A Cheann Comhairle, thank you for allowing me to speak. I very much welcome the amendment to this Bill reaching Second Stage. I want to speak to the fact that first cousins can now use their DNA for testing at the former mother and baby institution in Tuam. This is very welcome to a number of people who believe they may have family members buried there. Since this legislation was enacted, DNA testing has been limited to parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. This has been an issue of concern for some relatives who wish to participate in the programme, some of whom I have worked with closely. As time passes, the opportunities to identify those buried at the site becomes more challenging. In some families, those who will have been eligible to provide DNA may no longer be alive. Extending the programme to include first cousins is therefore a very important and practical step. It gives more families an opportunity to participate in the identification process and, hopefully, get answers to questions they have carried with them for many years. The identification programme is extremely important to people who believe they may have family members buried at the former mothers and babies institution in Tuam. As a local TD, I know too well how important it is. These are people at home and abroad who want to have a connection with their loved ones and bring some closure for their families. We must ensure that every reasonable opportunity is provided to families who wish to participate in this process. They have waited a long time for answers, and it is important that we continue to support them as this difficult and very sensitive work progresses. I compliment the director in Tuam, Daniel MacSweeney, and his team on carrying out the excavation in such a professional, diligent and humane manner. This is so important for those who are buried there and for their families. I also pay tribute to the local community in Tuam for what they have had to endure over a number of years, with the media coming from all over the world to invade their privacy and they not knowing what is going on. It was not an easy situation for them but they have dealt with it extremely admirably. I acknowledge that as well as their co-operation with the director.

Ultimately, this work is about treating those who died with dignity and respect and giving their families the best possible opportunity to find the answers they deserve. I also thank the former Ministers, Katherine Zappone and Roderic O'Gorman, who progressed this, and now the Minister, Deputy Foley, for the great work they are doing. I acknowledge that and, indeed, the officials within the Department. It is not an easy task but they are doing a very good job in these circumstances.

Deputy Emer Currie

I also welcome this Bill. It requires employers to submit gender pay gap information to the central portal, making reports easier to find, compare and scrutinise. It also extends eligibility under the Institutional Burials Act to first cousins, an important compassionate change for families seeking answers.

On the gender pay reporting, transparency matters, but what matters most is what we do with the information. Ireland's gender pay gap is reported to be at 8.3% and, according to the CSO, the number of women in employment has increased by 82% since 2000, so there has been progress, but being in employment does not necessarily mean having an equal opportunity to progress. I have spoken repeatedly in this House and in the Seanad about the motherhood penalty. Maynooth University research found a 27% fall in earnings immediately after childbirth among female graduates, and that is from 2023. Behind those figures and others are women reducing their hours, turning down promotions or leaving careers they have had to work hard to build because the struggle to juggle is still alive and well. Families are working harder than ever, juggling jobs, commuting, childcare, school collections and caring for relatives.

Too often, making that work still falls to women. When it does not work, women are more likely to pick up the slack. Women have spent generations levelling up in education, employment and leadership, and men now need the opportunity and support to adjust their working lives and share care equally. That requires a change in culture. People need to know that taking parental leave or requesting flexibility will not damage their career or invite judgment. When I proposed amendments to the work-life balance Bill in the Seanad, I argued that flexible work should be available to all employees and I still very much believe that. If flexibility is treated as an exception for mothers we risk reinforcing the motherhood penalty. If it becomes normal working practice, care can be shared more equally.

A review was promised, including consideration of extending the right to request flexible work to everyone. I am wondering where that review stands and when its findings will be published. We also need a clear timetable for full implementation of the EU pay and transparency directive following the deadline in June. Reporting reveals inequality. Our responsibility is to change the conditions producing it through accessible childcare, flexible working and supportive family leave. Women should be able to become mothers without sacrificing their careers. Men should be supported to share care. Families should be able to earn a living while still having time for each other, particularly when their children are young.

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

I wish to address the part of the Bill that relates to institutional burials. I acknowledge that the legislation in a small way advances the ability of relatives of those who are survivors of the Tuam mother and baby home, and of those who were buried there, to access full truth and justice. There is a great deal more that needs to be done right across the State to ensure that survivors, their families and campaigners receive justice. I am thinking particularly of Bessborough in my own county and city. We still do not know where over 800 children and many mothers are buried. The decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála to grant planning at that location was received with profound grief, shock and anger, not only by survivors and their relatives, although most particularly by them, but also by the people of Cork and the people of Ireland. It was through their campaigning that the Taoiseach agreed that all options would be on the table. I am taking this opportunity to encourage that. I am not sure whether a mediator has been appointed yet. I believe that the State and the Government need to throw their weight behind ensuring that discussions between the city council and the property owner lead to the outcome we all want to see, which is a site of conscience, and to ensure there is no development on a place the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes said was very likely to have children buried. That cannot happen.

One other key demand came up through those campaigners, the survivors and their relatives. They were shocked and angered in the past when legislation sealed the burial records of institutions such as the mother and baby home in Bessborough. The Minister has the opportunity in this legislation. This is appropriate legislation to amend to ensure that is reversed. I encourage the Minister to do that in the Seanad. I know it is too late on Second Stage today but I encourage her to do that. The technical report on the mother and baby home at Bessborough also needs to be released. The Minister has the power to do that.

Deputy Mark Wall

I welcome the Minister to the House today. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill 2026. The Bill before the House today deals with two separate issues, both of which are very welcome steps.

The first issue I will deal with is gender pay gap reporting. I welcome the Government's move towards establishing a more central reporting portal but we need to see more urgency on pay transparency. For example, the Government, disappointingly, missed the deadline to transpose the EU pay transparency directive, which should have been legislated for in June of this year. Even after this Bill is passed by the Oireachtas, a number of key provisions of that directive will not be transposed.

Under the terms of the directive, employers must inform prospective employees of the pay or pay range for particular roles before any interviews and will not be permitted to ask interviewees about their salary history. Why is the Government dragging its heels on implementing this provision? It has had three years to get it done but has still managed to miss the deadline.

A survey in September 2026 found that just 20% of employers always post salaries in job advertisements. It also found a rise in the number of employers opposed to the proposed reforms. The Government should be making a considered argument for why the directive is good for workers and for business. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, has shown that the Government's failure to transpose it on time will cost working women more than €570 million per year in lost wages.

The directive's measures for tackling the gender pay gap are not limited to reporting. Where such gaps persistently exceed 5%, employers would be required to consult with unions or other employee representatives on the measures required to address the situation. The Government needs to spell out what policy responses will be put in place to give real teeth to the reporting requirements in the Bill. It is all well and good having a reporting portal but it will not address the problems on its own. The Government talks a good game on its European credentials but it cannot keep ignoring and delaying following through on European directives when it suits it to do so.

The second issue addressed by the Bill is institutional burials. The provisions close a significant gap in the 2022 Act by allowing for first cousins to take part in identification programmes. It is a very welcome change. We are glad to see it will apply retrospectively to enable first cousins to apply to participate in an identification programme that is already under way.

We all know about the horrors that went on behind the high walls of institutions in so many cities, towns and villages across the country during the previous century. The vital work of people like Catherine Corless laid that bare and made sure that we, as a society, could no longer turn away and ignore the wrongs that were done. The 2022 Act was the response we made as legislators. It was not perfect but it was important that we took the steps to legislate for the cases where we know inappropriate burials took place inside institutions, many of which had shockingly high mortality rates.

One such institution was Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork, which has been raised with me by people all over Ireland and raised by colleagues in this debate. While the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes estimated that 923 babies died at Bessborough, just 64 burial locations could be identified. Burial records for 859 children and 19 women were missing. According to the commission, it is highly likely that some of those babies are buried in unmarked graves on the grounds. That is why such deep dismay was caused when An Coimisúin Pleanála granted planning permission earlier this year to build on that site. Bessborough should be a place of memorial and a site of conscience. We cannot cement over Ireland's dark history when there are so many questions left unanswered. Survivors have been let down many times previously by the State. The Bessborough site should be secured through compulsory purchase, if necessary, or by negotiating with the developer.

I thank my party colleague Senator Harmon, who has been at the forefront of raising this issue in the Seanad. We should remember the images from International Women's Day in March. When teddy bears and candles were laid at the gates of Bessborough, it brought home the message that this place should never and must never be forgotten. It is welcome, therefore, that the Government is closing the gap in the 2022 Act through this Bill. However, if it is serious about doing right by survivors of institutions and their families, it must step in to ensure the Bessborough site is protected. We cannot and should never forget Bessborough. I look forward to working with the Minister to progress the Bill through the House. We have some amendments that we look forward to discussing with her.

Deputy Keira Keogh

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill 2026. While appearing technical in nature, it provides for two vital measures that will make a real difference in people's lives.

The first concerns gender pay gap reporting. The Bill requires employers to report data directly to the Minister, thereby creating a centralised national system and comparison mechanism. We know that transparency is one of the most effective tools we have against inequality. We cannot fix what we cannot reliably measure. In Ireland right now, two graduates who leave university on the same day with the same qualifications and the same ambitions can go on to have very different earning experiences.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office for 2025 show that women's median weekly earnings are almost €152 less than men's. That amounts to nearly €7,900 over the 52 weeks of the year. Behind those figures are real people, real careers and real financial consequences. Moving beyond individual company reports to accessible cross-sector data will empower employees and legislators with the confidence to ensure that equal work receives equal treatment.

The second part of the Bill extends eligibility for the Institutional Burials Act identification programme to first cousins. This is particularly crucial for the ongoing work in Tuam. I acknowledge the sensitive, professional and compassionate work being led by Daniel MacSweeney and his team, which I witnessed at first-hand this summer during my visit to Tuam. Many immediate family members have unfortunately passed away. In these cases, the first cousins are the closest living relatives capable of assisting with identification. Extending participation to them is both practical and deeply humane. I urge the House to pass this legislation as quickly as possible. At the core of the Bill is transparency in the workplace and dignity for families seeking closure. I am pleased to support it.

Deputy Aisling Dempsey

I welcome the employment equality provisions contained in this Bill and the clear commitment they represent to fairness, dignity and equal opportunity in our society. The Irish gender pay gap currently stands at 8.3%, below the EU average of 11.1%. It is also lower for newer entrants to the job market. That is welcome news but, even still, only one in ten CEOs are female. The gender pay gap portal is a centralised reporting database. It is an important element of employment equality. It creates transparency and fairness. It should, and will, I hope, highlight discrepancies quickly that will be swiftly and appropriately addressed.

Employment is about far more than earning a living. It provides independence and security, which is particularly relevant to women. It is imperative that we know what the gender pay gap is. Even more crucial is that it continues to narrow and, ultimately, disappears. While the Employment Equality Act 1998 and subsequent legislation have helped advance the principle of equal pay and treatment, the gender pay gap has shown that legal equality alone is not enough. Progress has been made, but women remain under-represented in many of the highest employment positions, demonstrating that the work of achieving gender equality in the workplace must continue.

I visited a school yesterday in my constituency of Meath West, St. Nicholas Primary School in Longwood. We talked about politics and the school's student council elections. Those children do not need gender quotas to ensure that enough women are elected. They see everyone as equal. Some time later in their lives, however, we are failing them somehow. Many are adopting gender inequality beliefs. The measures before us strengthen our commitment to ensuring that nobody is disadvantaged in employment simply because of their gender. Equality in the workplace cannot simply be an aspiration. We must continue to back it up by law.

Deputy Conor D. McGuinness

I support this Bill. It goes some way to helping people find truth, information and justice. Earlier this month, I had the chance to watch "The Lost Children of Tuam", the film telling the story of Catherine Corless and her determination to uncover the truth about 796 children who died at the mother and baby home in that town. The film, like Catherine Corless's important work, forces us to confront how our society treated women and children. Children were neglected, bullied, starved and oftentimes abused, put to work, trafficked and, in some cases, disappeared. Women were mistreated and had their babies taken from them. Their choices were taken away. Again, they were put to work and their spirits were often ground down. People were discarded, hidden away and forgotten. In the days since watching that film, I have had conversations with people whom I have known for years, who have told me things and shared things with me that I never knew about them and that they never told me before.

Yesterday morning, in my constituency office, I sat down with a man in his 80s. He shared his experience with me. Decades later - an entire lifetime later - he is still living with the consequences of what happened to him as a small child. He told me about his life and childhood, the feeling of abandonment, neglect, pain and shame, and about an idea he has had for a long time that he feels would go some way towards healing him and, he believes, others.

He spoke about a national day of learning and remembering, a day to ensure that what happened in mother and baby homes, industrial schools, reformatories, Magdalen laundries and other institutions is never forgotten, so that future generations know the truth of what happened and that we, as a society, never again allow people to be treated this way.

This is not just something that happened in the past. The consequences are still being lived with today, and that hit home yesterday. Trauma and loss have followed this particular gentleman and many other people around every single day of their lives. People are still waiting for answers and carrying that pain. We owe them truth and justice and we owe it to the next generation of children and young people to make sure that we, as a society, never allow that to happen again.

Deputy Grace Boland

A central system for gender pay gap reporting is a very sensible reform. It should make information easier to find, compare and track over time, giving policymakers, researchers, employees and the public a clearer picture of where progress is being made and where further action is needed. Transparency is not compatibility, however, and the key question is not whether information is published. The key question will be, what happens when it is not? Therefore, if an employer fails to report, reports late or provides incomplete information, who identifies that failure, who follows it up, what is the escalation process and, ultimately, what are the consequences for employers who do not comply?

Existing legislation provides enforcement mechanisms, including powers for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, to seek a court order requiring compliance with pay gap reporting obligations. However, does anybody have a clear duty to proactively identify employers who do not report? If that compliance role is to sit with IHREC, it must be property resourced to carry out that function. That is why the regulations that will underpin the Bill are so important. If this legislation is to have any real impact, they need to set out a practical process for reporting, identifying issues, following them up and enforcing compliance, where necessary. Without that clarity, there is a risk that we improve reporting without strengthening accountability.

We must also address the causes of the gender pay gap. We know the gap widens when children arrive and caring responsibilities fall unequally. Paternity leave in Ireland remains at just two weeks, and just over half of fathers claim paternity benefit. I welcome the fact that the Tánaiste is taking paternity leave. That sends out a really important signal, but we need to create a system that makes it easy, affordable and culturally acceptable for both parents to take time away from work to care for their children. I have repeatedly raised the need for the State to do more to promote awareness of the leaves that are currently available, including paternity leave and parent's leave. We should also continue to make progress towards earnings-related leave for parents so that taking time to care for a child does not result in a financial penalty for families. If we want greater equality in the workplace, we also need greater equality in caring responsibilities in the home.

As colleagues have noted, we need to see urgent progress being made on the transposition of the pay transparency directive. The success of this Bill will depend on whether employers are supported to understand what is required of them. We know from research that many of them do not understand their obligations and whether there is a clear and effective system for identifying, following up and enforcing non-compliance.

I welcome the extension of the education programme under the Institutional Burials Act to first cousins. For families still seeking answers, that change will matter greatly.

Deputy Albert Dolan

I welcome the Bill and the proposals the Minister is bringing forward to strengthen gender pay gap reporting. The gender pay gap has real consequences for women throughout their lives, in their earnings, opportunities for promotion and pensions. Requiring employers covered by the legislation to report through a central portal will make that information more accessible. It will help people compare employers, assess progress and see where further action may be needed. Publishing the figures has to lead to change, however. Employers need to examine what is driving the gap in their organisations and take practical steps to address it, including supporting women into senior positions and improving access to flexible working.

I welcome the Minister's commitment to greater transparency and accountability.

Turning to Tuam, I particularly welcome the provision to extend participation in the DNA identification programme to first cousins of children believed to be buried at the former institution. As a representative for Tuam, I know how important this is for families still searching for answers.

So much time has passed. Some of the closest relatives of those children are, sadly, no longer alive. Parents, brothers and sisters may have passed away without ever knowing what happened to their loved one. That makes the connection through first cousins all the more important. It provides another opportunity to establish a family link and we must make every possible effort to support that. There are still many unanswered questions. Families deserve the opportunity to engage with this deeply difficult and sensitive matter at their own pace with clear information and compassionate support.

I wish to pay tribute to Catherine Corless for her extraordinary persistence and determination to ensure that these children were remembered and the families' questions were heard. I also wish to pay tribute to the community in Tuam, particularly those who have supported families and helped preserve the memory of these children over many years. I sincerely thank Mr. Daniel MacSweeney and his team for the work they are doing and for the care, sensitivity and respect with which they are approaching it. Their ongoing engagement and briefings are really appreciated. Keeping families and public representatives informed matters enormously, especially when this work is so sensitive and the expectations are deeply personal.

Our responsibility is to ensure the support continues throughout this process. Families have to be listened to, kept informed and supported through whatever lies ahead. Every opportunity to provide the families with the answers they require matters and extending this programme to first cousins is a very welcome and meaningful step.

Deputy Thomas Gould

I wish to raise the issue of Bessborough. The Minister will be well aware that mediators between Cork City Council and landlords and landowners have been appointed. This was confirmed in the media on 8 September. After a month, will the Minister update us on the progress of the mediation?

I reached out to those involved in the campaign group today and they asked me to ask the Minister these questions. I hope the Minister will not dismiss them. Who has been appointed? How many meetings have happened? What progress, if any, has been achieved? Has this progressed beyond initial meetings? Most importantly, has the Government earmarked funding for the purchase of the Bessborough site, and if mediation leads to an agreement, is the Minister ready to step in, provide the necessary funding and not let this drag on any longer?

This is urgent. The survivors and loved ones of those who did not survive Bessborough deserve answers and they are anxiously waiting on them. I will not allow them to be brushed under the carpet, as has been done to so many women and babies who perished and died in Bessborough over the decades. I will not allow their voices to be silent. They are currently living in limbo, with the potential that apartments will be built on their loved ones' graves. It is beyond belief. They need answers and certainty and I appeal to the Minister to hear the questions they have asked me to ask her. Will she ensure the money is there to buy Bessborough and preserve it?

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy Gogarty.

Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty

I ask the Ceann Comhairle to bear with me for one second because I am up slightly earlier than I thought I would be. Is Deputy Tóibín coming?

An Ceann Comhairle

No, I cannot see him.

Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty

I have got longer than I thought, which is good.

I welcome the opportunity to speak a little longer on the Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill, which is a constructive piece of legislation. We need provisions relating to the gender pay gap reporting. It is always important to have transparency for policymakers, employers and workers in improving things but we obviously still have the existing inequalities.

The creation of this central reporting mechanism is going to make information easier to access, analyse and compare notes on, so to speak.

The Government itself stated that the purpose of the portal was to enable clear examination of pay disparities across sectors and to support responses aimed at reducing the gender pay gap, which, unfortunately, is still evident in many areas. With the technology we have had over the past couple of years, you would argue that gathering this data is not rocket science. I want to put a related point out there or ask a rhetorical question as to why it has taken so long to roll out. There have been comparable systems in the UK for quite a number of years, whereby the gender pay gap data are reported to the central government service that allows users to search and compare different organisations and sectors. It is a much bigger jurisdiction with bigger resources to match, but it should not have taken us so long. Internationally, this has been seen as best practice in many countries for a long time.

In 2025, the Department stated that a centralised portal had been a long-held policy intention. It was "long-held" in the sense that during the period of Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, it was announced that the portal was forthcoming. It took four to five years for it to be launched on a voluntary basis in November 2025 before becoming publicly accessible in June 2026. That was quite a long time. We have to ask ourselves why it took so long. It was mostly not during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Getting this information reporting on a statutory basis should have been a priority for the previous Government.

Because this is an omnibus Bill, I want to add to the discussion of the provisions relating to the Institutional Burials Act 2022 which extend the participation in the identification programmes to first cousins. I have listened to a few of the speeches about the traumatic impact on many survivors and families. This amendment, following on from Forensic Science Ireland's confirmation that you can reliably get the DNA information from cousins, is going to help in some cases. It will, we hope, give more answers to extended family members who are seeking to identify remains at the site of the former mother and baby institution in Tuam, where forensic excavations began last year.

On the wider picture, and this is a point that other Deputies have raised, we have to question the barriers being thrown in front of people. The forensic barrier might be lowered to some extent with this widening of the DNA identification process, but survivors, their relatives and legal advocates will tell you that our historical culture of State secrecy has stopped people from getting information. It has improved in recent years, but the institutional records and commission archives were sealed for 30 years. If closure for survivors includes finding out and identifying, but also getting proper information, we need to make it as easy as possible to access the archives. In the scope of this omnibus Bill, which is small but important, can we, as Deputy Currie and others have asked, accommodate further measures to access information on the pay gap side and especially in relation to survivors? If first cousins are now legally recognised as eligible family members for the purposes of physical identification, they should also have a right to access institutional administrative records that concern their families. We should consider whether amendments could be introduced on Report Stage to link the physical identification rights with meaningful access to information. We have been gradually pulling aside the squinty curtain in our society but many things are still hidden. If anything, we should be trying to get more information into the open and once and for all rid ourselves of that shameful period.

Deputy Peter Roche

I welcome the provision in the Bill to address the gender pay gap. I also welcome the inclusion of first cousins to support DNA identification in the context of institutional burials. Exactly ten years ago, I was cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, which was a very privileged and honourable position to be in. Council officials from the housing, environment and libraries departments, myself and the law agents were invited to meet with the commission of investigation in Dublin regarding the Tuam mother and baby home. To say that it was very much like a courtroom setting would be an understatement. I listened a lot to the questions that were asked. Of course, those questions were very pertinent and relevant to what we were discovering on a daily and weekly basis with regard to the number of babies who were interred at Tuam. I came away with comfort knowing that in view of the line of questioning that was put to council officials and me, as cathaoirleach, no stone would be left unturned. That was ten years ago. For many people, that delay would have been painfully slow and arduous, but we have got there and have reached a point where the remains of 109 infants have been recovered. What pleases me most is that all of those 109 infants were coffined. They were placed in little timber coffins that were painted white, albeit some of them have disintegrated. That is what pleases me most.

I genuinely and sincerely thank Daniel MacSweeney. He has been an outstanding individual in the context of the preparation to inform local authority members and, indeed, the town of Tuam, of which I am a native. I felt that there was a comfort in that because everyone was informed about the next steps. That was the process from the start, and it continues. I thank Mr. MacSweeney and his team for their ongoing engagement. I offer a special mention to the survivors, campaigners and families that have been affected. This matter has brought significant hardship, hurt and pain to many. I recall all too often meeting with the survivors and listening to their really heartfelt stories about what they wanted and how much of a hurry they were because of their age. We cannot change the past but we can certainly ensure that how we respond to it reflects the future of Ireland.

Deputy John Connolly

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a bheith linn agus as na leasuithe a chur os ár gcomhair don dhá Acht seo atá thar a bheith tábhachtach. I welcome the opportunity to make a brief comment on the two amendments the Minister has brought before the House today regarding the Institutional Burials Act 2022 and the Employment Equality Act 1998. I compliment her on the amendment to the Employment Equality Act. It is a simple but important gesture that has to be made because there should not be any impediment to making sure that we get the data on pay equality. It should not be the case that we cannot get this data because there is no centralised reporting portal. When it is developed, this tool will have a crucial role to play in assisting with the gathering of data and making sure that we have such data across various sectors of employment. It should be there, it should be used and it should not be impeded.

In the context of the existing legislation, should we look at the rule regarding organisations that have fewer than 50 employees and make sure that they report their data? Just because companies are smaller, would it not be better to ensure that there is no discrimination or inequality in the workplace across gender? Irrespective of the size of a company or industry or the number of employees in a company, should we not ensure that companies report pay data and that the information provided meets the standards that have been set in terms of gender equality? I very much welcome the fact that mandatory reporting will come into effect from 1 November and that the legislation before us will ensure that employers must use the portal to report pay data relating to their employees.

I want to mention one matter that is relevant to the Minister's portfolio. We welcome the changes made in last week's budget to make childcare more affordable. We all know that one of the challenges in that sector is the recruitment of staff. We also know that another challenge in that regard relates to the fact that, unfortunately, lower paid workers work in the sector. It often amuses me that people in our financial institutions who mind our money are paid multiples of what we pay people to care for our children. This is something we should tackle over the coming years in order to ensure that we can increase the salaries of those working in childcare and preschool services. I know that is something to which the Minister is committed in terms of trying to reduce the cost of childcare and preschool services for parents.

Debate adjourned.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Tuesday, 13 Oct 2026

Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 13 Oct 2026