Mr. David Joyce:

On the gender pay gap, we will learn a lot over the coming months. It is welcome, as the Chairman noted, that the Gender Pay Gap Information Act is now in place and applies initially to organisations of more than 250 employees, with, importantly, an indication that will decrease to 150 or more in 2024 and 50 or more in 2025. There are also plans for an online reporting system in 2023, as I understand.

This is a new area for us and we have not been involved in it before. We looked to the experience in other countries, such as the UK and elsewhere, where similar legislation is in place. From our point of view, a key area in this is that there will be a narrative attached to the figures. The figures are very nitty-gritty and our guide, which we will publish on Monday, goes into some detail on how they are all calculated and what is involved, so I will not go into all that here. The figures will be accompanied by a narrative whereby the employer will have to indicate what it intends to do to address any gaps that are identified, and that is the key.

Disappointingly from our point of view, the regulations talk about a statement setting out, in the employer's opinion, what this is and how it might be addressed. We had hoped employers would be required, or at least strongly encouraged, to discuss any gaps identified with workers and their representatives. We do not claim to have all the answers in this area but, likewise, employers do not have them either, so if we combine our efforts and discuss any gaps and what might be done to address them, that would be important. While the regulations do not require that, most good employers would recognise it would be important to discuss the findings of any audit with workers and their representatives. Once we go through the first cycle, we will learn from that and next year, we will all be a little more knowledgeable as to how to go about it. It is a welcome change and one we are keen to get involved in, as are our affiliates.

We strongly support the reproductive health-related leave Bill. As the Chairman mentioned, the INTO was very involved in advocating for that change. That is something we support and our women's committee has been very engaged on it.