Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will have to come back to the Deputy on both counts. Certainly, in regard to the regulation of crisis pregnancy counselling services, we very much support the approach outlined in the Deputy's Bill. Women who face a crisis pregnancy need to get accurate and impartial advice. It is of great concern to me and the Government that some people may be providing misleading or inaccurate advice and information. I will check with the Minister as to when the legislation can be progressed. He has mentioned it himself in discussions and is keen to develop it.

I will come back to the Deputy on the gender pay gap legislation, which I believe is with the Department of Justice and Equality at the moment. Separately, the Tánaiste, as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, is in the process of consulting industry on carrying out gender-related pay surveys. Key to that is identifying the reasons behind the gender pay gap in various companies and the extent to which it has to do with hours worked, different levels of qualifications and so on. There are often more factors at play than simply gender.

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