Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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30. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on engagement with businesses in relation to the gender pay gap snapshot due in June 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27407/22]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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55. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline his Department’s strategy towards advancing women’s rights and equality; if he will provide an update on his progress with regard to tackling the gender pay gap; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27839/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 and 55 together.

The National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020 has provided a whole-of-Government framework through which women’s empowerment continues to be advanced. This Strategy was developed in consultation with stakeholders, and the process included consultation with civil society and with the public. 

The Programme for Government “Our Shared Future” includes a commitment that the Government will develop and implement a new National Strategy for Women and Girls. I will work with stakeholders to examine what has been achieved over the term of the outgoing Strategy, and consider how we can bring forth the next iterations of the suite of national equality strategies and ensure they are even more robust and effective. In this regard, my Department has commissioned a study to evaluate the processes for implementation of three equality strategies, which includes the National Strategy for Women and Girls as well as the Migrant Integration Strategy and the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy. Consultations in regard to the successor strategy will commence during 2022. In the interim, the principles and priorities of the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020 continue to guide my Department's work to advance gender equality and women's rights.

The gender pay gap in Ireland, which was 14.4% in 2017, fell to 11.3% in 2018, the most recent year for which statistics are currently available. Addressing the factors behind the gender pay gap is a key commitment in the outgoing Strategy. Employers and their representative organisations have contributed to the public consultation undertaken on the matter in autumn 2017 and to the symposium that followed in January 2018. Tackling this issue contributes to equality and makes good business sense, as firms that can report a low or non-existent gender pay gap will have an advantage in recruiting and retaining employees. Initiatives to address the gender pay gap can also be expected to have a positive impact on disparities in income for women across and after their working lives.

Consultations have taken place with unions and employer representative organisations about the gender pay gap, especially in the context of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021. The aim of the Act is to provide transparency on the gender pay gap and incentivise employers to take measures to address the issue insofar as they can. Regulations have been made under the Act. Under these Regulations, organisations are asked to select a ‘snapshot’ date in the month of June, and those organisations having not less than 250 employees on that date will then have six months to prepare their calculations before reporting six months later, during December. My Department has issued guidance to employers on calculating their gender pay gaps. It is also continuing to engage with trade union and employer representative bodies on the implementation of the legislation.