Ms Ethel Buckley:

On behalf of SIPTU, I thank the members of the committee for the invitation to input into its considerations of the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality and to outline SIPTU’s work to tackle gender inequality in the workplace, the labour market and in Irish life. I am accompanied by my colleague, senior researcher, Mr. Michael Taft.

SIPTU is the largest trade union in Ireland. We represent workers in all sectors of the economy in both the public and private sector. Representing approximately 200,000 workers, 42% of whom are women, our trade union has been at the forefront of campaigning on issues impacting on gender equality for over a century.

Women workers pay a heavy price for their gender. To achieve our goal of gender equality, we will need to significantly improve pay and working conditions for women who disproportionately experience low pay and precarious living standards.

SIPTU’s Working Women’s Charter, launched on International Women’s Day in 2020, is the guiding manifesto for our policy, campaigning, organising and industrial work on behalf of women workers.

We welcomed the fact that many of the Citizens' Assembly’s recommendations aligned with some of the key demands of our charter, which were also contained in our quite lengthy submission to the Citizens' Assembly, most notably the introduction of a legal right to collective bargaining; a substantial increase in investment in childcare to create a professionalised workforce delivering quality affordable childcare; pay transparency legislation and targets as a tool to tackle the gender pay gap; and promotion of women’s participation and leadership in all forms of decision-making.

As a union, we have a strong commitment to promoting gender equality. SIPTU introduced a rule in 2017 that requires representation of no less than 40% males and 40% females on all of our peak decision-making bodies. That is our national executive council, our five industrial divisional committees and our 21 industrial sectoral committees. Ensuring that women are at the table where decisions are made is intrinsic to gender equality.

As requested, we will limit our remaining comments in our opening statement to the recommendations on pay and workplace conditions, recommendations 32 to 36.

In respect of recommendation 32, the gender pay gap, Ireland's gender pay gap is 11.3%, based on 2018 data, which is the most recent year for which we have data and this is below the EU average. This is the unadjusted gender pay gap. It includes both possible discrimination between men and women such as unequal pay for equal work, as well as the impact of differences of the average characteristics of men and women in the labour market.

The EU Commission has attempted to adjust the data, factoring in a number of labour market characteristics such as sector of activity, age, occupation, full-time or part-time work, etc. This is done to ensure that we are measuring the gender pay gap on a like-for-like basis. The adjusted result is what the Commission calls the unexplained part of the gender pay gap. The last Commission study was done using 2014 data. When adjusted the gender pay gap falls throughout Europe. However, interestingly in Ireland, the adjusted or unexplained gender pay gap actually increases and exceeds the EU average. It is difficult to say why this high level of unexplained gender pay gap exists, hence the term "unexplained".

However, SIPTU would like to provide further data which might provide some insights. EUROSTAT and the Central Statistics Office, CSO, data show the gender pay gap in the public sector in Ireland to be 6.1% but in the private sector to be 20%.

One explanation is likely to be the high level of collective bargaining in the public sector compared to the private sector. Collective agreements not only promote strong wage floors and the reduction of any pay discrimination, they also tend to protect part-time workers and help ensure transparency and accountability in career progression. Levelling up pay and conditions for part-time and flexible workers is a key instrument in shrinking the gender pay gap. Unfortunately, we do not have sectoral breakdowns of the adjusted gender pay gap. The committee may wish to recommend that the relevant Department conduct a detailed study of the adjusted gender pay gap by a number of characteristics, for example, public and private sector, economic or industrial activity, age and so forth, using the same methodology as the EU Commission.

Moving on to recommendation 34 in respect of the minimum wage or the living wage, Ireland has a low pay crisis. In 2018, EUROSTAT and the Central Statistics Office data showed that one in five workers in Ireland are officially categorised as low paid. Women are particularly affected by low pay. While 17% of men are low paid, 23% of women are low paid. SIPTU welcomed the commitment in the programme for Government to raise the minimum wage to the living wage by 2025. We further welcomed the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission to lift the minimum wage to 66% of the median average:

After the 60% of the median wage target has been reached ... the Commission should assess the economic practicality of gradually increasing the targeted threshold rate towards 66% of the median wage and make recommendations accordingly.

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Low-wage earners are defined by Eurostat as "those employees earning two thirds or less of the national median gross hourly earnings". On that basis, having a living wage rate set at 66% of median wage will eradicate low-wage employment for all workers earning at or above the living wage rate.

The committee may wish to discuss this further with my colleague Mr. Michael Taft. It is important to note that Mr. Taft is a member of the Low Pay Commission.

Women make up the majority of employees in the hospitality sector, which has a low pay rate of 54%. Women also make up the majority in the distributive sector, which has a low pay rate of 30%. Moving the minimum wage to the living wage would clearly be a boost for hundreds of thousands of these workers.

Reaching the living wage, 66% of the median wage, by 2025 will be particularly challenging in our view. Based on the Government’s own estimates, it would mean increasing the current minimum wage of €10.50 to in excess of €15 per hour by 2025. Recognising this, the Low Pay Commission proposed economic supports for businesses in the transition to the living wage. There is much commentary regarding the impact of minimum wage increases on small businesses. However, SIPTU research has shown that in the retail sector the impact of wage increases is relatively constant in percentage terms across enterprises despite size. This holds for impact on turnover and operating costs. The real challenge that small businesses face is the very low level of consumer spending compared with the eurozone. Ireland would have to increase consumer spending by 17%, or €17 billion, to reach the eurozone average. That consumer spending is so low may have many causes, but one way to address it is by raising income floors where people have a very high propensity to spend what they earn. Ultimately, the move to a living wage constitutes a transition away from a low-pay and what we would call low-road exploitative business model, and there is no doubt this will be difficult. However, other EU countries with higher levels of corporation tax, employers' tax and social insurance, and wages have vibrant and extensive small business sectors.