David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill 2017 which was introduced by the Labour Party in the Seanad and has been passed by that House. The fundamental aim of this Bill, which is to address the gender pay gap, is fully in line with Government policy as expressed in the programme for a partnership Government and in the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020, with which not everybody is familiar. For that reason the Government has chosen not to oppose this Private Members' Bill in either House. We believe the debate is important and worthwhile.

That said, we differ on the mechanism to address the gender pay gap. The Bill predates the publication of the Government's proposals. We took the opportunity to engage with stakeholders, including employer and employee representative groups, in drafting our proposals. In particular, I thank the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, the National Women’s Council of Ireland and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for their valuable input. We examined the possibility of bringing forward amendments to this Bill but our legal advice is that such an approach would be excessively cumbersome and that it would be much more straightforward to bring forward a new Bill. Having secured the Government's approval for the heads of the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill, we published the legislation on 26 June and invited the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to submit its views as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process, as we are required to do. Regrettably, we have not yet received the report of the committee. I am anxious to consider any views the committee may have and to endeavour to incorporate them into the Government's proposals. I am also anxious to move forward with the Government's Bill.

The Bill before us proposes to amend the legislation establishing the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, by assigning to the latter powers to make mandatory gender pay gap information disclosure schemes. Under such schemes, specified categories of employers would be required to compile and publish information relating to differences in the pay of their male and female employees. Schemes would not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees. Contravention by an employer of the provisions of a scheme would be an offence. I am advised that the latter provision could mean that under Article 17.2 of the Constitution and Standing Order 179 a money message from the Government will be needed before Committee Stage of the Bill can be taken. A decision on whether such a message is needed is a matter for the Ceann Comhairle and the Bills Office.

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