Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I strongly support the Bill. A few weeks ago, I was struck that the charity, Dress for Success Dublin, which launched its #WorkEqual campaign, found that on 13 November the women of Ireland would effectively work for free for the remainder of 2018.

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While our gender pay gap of 13.9% is lower than the European average of 16.7%, it is still far too high. Across Europe, the gender pay gap ranges from just 5.2% in Romania up to 25.3% in Estonia. We have had an annual European Equal Pay Day since 2011.

The Bill brought forward by Senator Bacik is superior to the Government’s Gender Pay Gap Information Bill, which is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny before the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. The heads of the Government’s Bill were published on genderequality.ie at the end of June. When addressing the Seanad on the Bill before us, the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, said that the “thrust and philosophy behind both [Bills] are exactly the same.” The Government’s Bill, however, would amend the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015 but would only apply to companies with no fewer than 250 employees. In the Seanad debate, Senator Bacik spoke of how we all wish to see pay transparency legislation. I understand that she met the Minister and his officials to see how they could work together to progress the most legally sound Bill. She also stated that given that the gender pay gap has only narrowed by 4% in the past 11 years, it could, according to estimates from the National Women's Council of Ireland, take up to 170 years to close it completely. We cannot wait that long.

Senator Bacik’s Bill is superior because it provides for the publishing of information on gender pay gaps in companies with no fewer than 50 employees.

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