Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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240. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps she is taking to identify and address gender pay disparity in her Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under her remit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17367/22]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 introduced the legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting and requires organisations to report on their gender pay gap and reporting by employers with over 250 employees will begin later this year.

I welcome the announcement by Minister O'Gorman, Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on 8th March 2022 of further details for the introduction of gender pay gap reporting and forthcoming guidance regarding gender pay gap calculations to assist this process.

My Department is committed to embedding a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion in all its employment practices. My Department closely monitors and undertakes quarterly analysis on the proportion of male and female employees across the relevant grades in the Department and recruitment in terms of gender breakdown for all internal competitions.

With regard to the Agencies under my Department’s remit, this is an operational matter for the respective Agencies. In that context, I will forward your question to the relevant Agencies and bodies, under the aegis of my Department, and request them to respond directly to you on the matter. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.