Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and very much welcome his bringing the Bill to the House, thereby following through on the commitment in the programme for Government. This is a proud day for me because I founded the cross-party group on workplace equality, which focused on the gender pay gap, in 2016. That groups started a conversation in Leinster House and we held many briefings for Senators and Deputies. At the time people looked at me when I mentioned the gender pay gap because they did not know what it was. There was a realisation in both Houses that it was a real matter that needed to be tackled.

I am very happy to be joined today by two co-chairs of the group, Senators Bacik and Currie. The group has grown in strength and we are very happy to see the legislation coming today. I am glad the Minister pointed out that this Bill is just one of a suite of measures because it cannot be seen as solving the problem in isolation. I am very happy to have been involved with the WorkEqual campaign with Ms Sonya Lennon down through the years, and speaking about this and getting it on the political agenda is always the first step in any campaign. We will not get into the justification of a gender pay gap but it exists. There are many pay gap deniers out there and we have heard from some today but that gap exists and it is a real problem not only for individuals but society and the economy.

There are a number of reasons for the gender pay gap and I will run through some of the more common. As the Minister pointed out, the lack of pay transparency is a major contributor and was the top contributing factor as identified by submissions when consultations on the matter opened. There is also the question of women stepping out of the workforce for family reasons and a lack of affordable childcare. We heard about giving women choice but most women I know do not have the choice to return to their jobs. Where I live in north county Dublin, which has a rapidly expanding population, there are not enough crèches or childminders. For women who have the option of local childminders or crèches, the cost is completely unaffordable and inaccessible from a pay perspective.

If we are to give women a real choice, the State must once and for all involve itself in childcare provision. There is a historical unwillingness on the part of the State to get involved with childcare provision because it is almost seen that a woman's place is in the home and it will not facilitate anything going against that. I am thankful that this view is being met head-on but we must seriously and radically overhaul how we do childcare in this country.

We can even look around the gender pay gap for women with children but studies have demonstrated that women aged between 25 and 46 with a degree in Ireland earn 28% less than male counterparts, whether they have a child or not. These differences are down to gender.

There are also differences in gendered occupations. It is a sort of chicken-and-egg scenario because women are in low-paid careers or are the careers low paid because this is where women work and this is the value we put on work done by women?

My colleague, Senator Seery Kearney, referred to the legal profession and I know much about that as I am a solicitor as well. She is dead right in pointing out that high-paid aspects of the law are dominated by male solicitors while the touchy-feely lower-paid aspects are dominated by women. It is very hard for women to break into the higher-paid legal careers. We have more female solicitors in Ireland than we have ever had but they are not becoming partners.

My time is nearly up but I have pages of material. I could stay here talking about this and use all the time for the debate. There is conscious and subconscious bias and historical inequalities, as pointed out by Senator O'Reilly. Women are constantly asked for their pay history, meaning this inequality is carried forward. There are performance reviews based on subjective factors and there may be a company culture where men may be seen as better performers or given more opportunities to network. We all know about the golf outings but we have not all been invited to them. Women do work within organisations, collecting for birthdays and organising nights out. These are not billable hours but they are very important to the production and work environment. Women do this but when it comes to a pay review, it is not taken into account.

This Bill is the first step we can take. What gets measured gets done so I am very happy to see this Bill here. I hope the Minister will pursue this and I have every faith he will. He should also pursue the other suite of measures. Companies do not have to wait on legislation as they can start doing audits and putting systems in place now.