Cabinet approves legislation on gender pay gap disclosure

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and Equality Minister David Stanton have published the General Scheme of the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill.

The bill will provide that employers with a certain number of employees (starting at 250+ then shrinking to 150+ and eventually 50+) must publish information on the gender pay gap in their firm.

Mr Flanagan said the Government had “consulted widely and taken on board much that emerged from the public consultation that Minister Humphreys, Minister Stanton and I hosted last year”.

He added: “I want to acknowledge the support of the Opposition for wage transparency measures and the work of Senator Ivana Bacik in particular.”

Mr Stanton said: “This is an important measure to help reduce the gender pay gap by publishing information about it at the firm level, thus furnishing a deeper insight into the causes of the gap and facilitating employers in addressing it.

“It is not by itself a sufficient response to the problem of the gender pay gap and needs to be supplemented by measures in increase the number of women in better-paid roles and occupations, improved childcare provision, dealing with gender stereotypes, more women in decision making etc Actions in these areas are being pursued in the framework of the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020.”

The General Scheme will now be submitted to the joint Oireachtas committee on justice and equality for pre-legislative scrutiny.