Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 35: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to ensure full gender pay equality; the reason his work on this matter to date has failed; the action he is taking within his Department and its agencies to ensure that full gender pay equality exists; if an independent survey has been undertaken by his Department or any of its agencies on this subject; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8343/07]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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It is generally acknowledged that the reasons behind the gender pay gap are varied and complex. Consequently the Government has adopted a multifaceted approach across a number of areas in order to address the closure of the pay gap.

The Consultative Group on Male / Female Wage Differentials, set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, was chaired by my Department and reported to Government in November 2003 on actions required to address the gender pay gap. Their research found that increased labour market participation by women was an important step in reducing the pay gap. The report contained a number of recommendations addressing a wide range of Government policies including:

taxation

statutory minimum wages

education and training and

the development of family friendly policies.

We have acted on these recommendations and the indications are that Ireland has made considerable progress in relation to the gender pay gap with a significant narrowing of the gap in recent years. Recently published Eurostat figures indicate the Irish gender pay gap to be 9%, which is well below the EU average of 15%. It compares well with many other countries including Germany (22%), the United Kingdom (20%) and Sweden (16%). While Eurostat note that the statistical survey from which the figures are extracted —Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) — are provisional and subject to further quality assessment, it is informative to note that the Irish gender pay gap has, according to Eurostat, fallen from 22% since 1999.

The recent reductions in the gap are attributable to a number of factors including;

the introduction and regular revision of the National Minimum Wage

the implementation of legislative provisions

the introduction of the Equal Opportunities Child-care Programme

part-individualisation of the taxation system

increases in child benefit payments and

the continued strength of the Irish economy and the underlying strong demand for labour.

My Department has provided funding of over €25m, under the Equality for Women Measure (EWM) in the National Development Plan 2000-2006, to more than 100 organisations for the delivery of positive action projects for women in their communities, in work, in decision making areas, in education and in training. The projects have included proposals aimed at addressing the glass ceiling (the barrier to career advancement) and horizontal segregation in the labour force.

To build on the work already done, funding of over €126 million is being provided under the National Development Plan 2007-2013 for measures to improve gender equality. The aim is to continue to address the need for measures to improve equality between men and women and to tackle educational and social barriers to women entering and progressing within the workforce with particular focus on disadvantaged women.

This multifaceted response which the Government is taking in addressing the gender pay gap will be developed further in the National Women's Strategy which I expect to publish very shortly. The Strategy's development was overseen by an Inter-Departmental Committee of Senior Officials, under the chairmanship of my Department and was the subject of a consultation process with the social partners. One of the Strategy's main objectives will be to reduce the gender pay gap.

With regard to research on this subject, I can inform the Deputy that other than the Consultative Group on Male/Female Wage Differentials, my Department has commissioned the ESRI to undertake a number of pieces of research on the gender pay gap. The first study in 1994 quantified for the first time the size of the gap across the whole economy. A further ESRI study in 2001, entitled 'How Unequal', focussed on quantifying the gender pay gap at national level in Ireland and identified how it relates to patterns of labour market participation. The latest ESRI research, entitled "Degrees of Equality : Gender Pay Differentials among Recent Graduates", published in 2005, examined the gender pay gap among male and female graduates who had left third level education in 2001. The study suggested a need to focus on the processes of early career integration and career choices.

In an international context, my Department represents Ireland on a number of EU committees relating to gender matters which play an important role in researching the causes of the gender pay gap and in advising on measures to reduce it. In this regard, my Department led an EU project in 2001 – 2002 along with Northern Ireland, Sweden and Finland. Ireland's research, conducted by Indecon International Economic Consultants, described in detail the extent of the gender pay gap and gender segregation in the IT, Electrical and Electronic, Retail, Food, and Local Government sectors of the Irish economy.

As the Deputy will realise, the work of the Government and my Department in this complex matter has produced considerable success and I expect that with a continued focus on addressing the component causes of the gender pay gap we will continue to reduce it in the coming years.