Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take Senator Bacik's point about data, the gender breakdown and policymakers having this information. I will convey her view to the Government because it is an important part of developing policy on gender equality and employment issues.We have to have reliable data and information on issues like that. Building on the commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government to advance gender equality, the Government has advanced a number of specific initiatives in 2018. These are in line with the aims and objectives of the national strategy for women and girls, which seeks to change attitudes and practices preventing women and girls from fully participating in education, employment and public life at all levels. The strategy contains 139 actions to advance the equality of women and girls. It includes actions to promote the socio-economic equality of women and girls, to advance their physical and mental well-being, to ensure their visibility in society and their equal and active citizenship, to advance women in leadership and decision-making and to combat violence against women.

Work is under way, in consultation with stakeholders across civil society and professional bodies, on a wide range of actions to achieve this. Last June, the Government approved a general scheme of a gender pay gap wage transparency Bill, which will promote wage transparency by requiring companies to complete a wage survey periodically and report the results showing the gender pay gaps. It also provides for a range of enforcement mechanisms. A new initiative, Better Balance for Better Business, a business review group, was announced in July to promote better gender balance.