Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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1535. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the new gender pay gap reporting portal for public and private organisations will be fully launched as promised on International Women’s Day 2025, under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021. [59047/25]

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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1536. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the additional planned legislation for gender pay gap reporting will be brought to the Dáil. [59048/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1535 and 1536 together.

The gender pay gap is a key measure of women’s economic empowerment and their equal representation in senior business roles and well-paid occupations. Under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, employers must publish their gender pay gap information.

In 2025, organisations with over 50 employees are required to report on their gender pay gap.

Employers in scope of the legislation are required to ensure their gender pay gap information is accessible to both their employees and the public. This can be done by either publishing it on their own website or making it available in some other manner that is accessible to the public where they do not have a website.

The Department is currently at an advanced stage in the development of a centralised reporting database. This will make information on employers’ gender pay gaps more accessible to the public and will help our understanding of the gender pay gap in Ireland and how it might be eliminated. The system will enable members of the public to search for and view individual employers’ returns on the database, both overall and by year, including browsing for returns. The public will also be able to compare employers across a range of variables.

The Department will open the portal on a voluntary basis in November 2025 to select employers who have received an invitation link from partner organisations the 30% Club and IBEC, and for Government Departments, their Agencies and State bodies under their aegis.

It has been confirmed that further legislation is needed for employers to be required to report in full into the portal on a mandatory basis. This legislation is currently in development and this Department is exploring the potential for the necessary legislation to be included in a miscellaneous bill to expedite the passage of this legislation.

Once the legislation is passed, reporting through the Gender Pay Gap Portal will be mandatory for all employers over 50 employees from 2026.

Employers will still be required to publish their gender pay gap reports on their website or ensure that it is available to the public in some other manner when use of the centralised portal is mandatory.