Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Given the importance of diversity and inclusion to the culture and resilience of financial services firms, the Government continues to support the industry-led initiative ‘Women in Finance Charter’ to place the spotlight on the need to improve diversity in the financial services sector. In particular, under the Ireland for Finance StrategyAction Plan for 2021 which the Government approved in February, stakeholders in the financial services industry have been working to develop ‘Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter’ which will allow firms to devise commitments to progress gender diversity in their firms.

As the Deputy is aware, all of the banks operating in Ireland, including those in which the State has a shareholding, are run on an independent and commercial basis, and any measures they may put in place to address the gender pay gap is first and foremost a matter for their respective boards.

I note, however, that the Central Bank has been a leader in the promotion of greater diversity within financial services firms. Specifically in relation to the gender pay gap, the Bank has sought to lead by example, by publishing a report on its own gender pay gap every year since 2018. The most recent report, for 2020, is available here: .

My colleague Roderic O'Gorman TD Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has recently restated his commitment to advance the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill, 2021. The proposals published by the EU Commission on 4 March this year for binding pay transparency measures will be reviewed in the context of the provisions of the Bill and existing legal provisions.