While there is increasing emphasis on equality and fair pay in the workplace in the UK and in the European Union states, recent figures show the difference in government departments in Ireland, an EU country. The gender pay gap at the Department of Equality has widened since last year.
Women at the department, which falls under Minister Roderic O’Gorman, were already paid slightly more than men on average, last year. The difference has now risen to -5.2 per cent from -3.6 per cent last year, the Department said in its 2023 gender pay gap report. A negative pay gap is one where the pay difference is in favour of women. It means that every 1 euro a man earns in the department, a woman earns 1.05 euros.
The reason for the gap appears to be the fact that there are more women than men among the top 25 per cent earners in the Department. More than half (55 per cent) of the department’s almost 700 staff are women.
When measured in median terms the mid-point between the highest and lowest salaries, which can strip out distortions at the top or bottom of the pay scale – the gap widens even further to -13.1 per cent.
That means for every 1 euro a man earns, a woman earns 1.13 euros. The pay gap in the wider economy was 9.6 per cent last year, in favour of men, the Central Statistics Office said, meaning for every I euro a man earns, a woman earns 0.90 euros.
Ireland’s new pay gap legislation, which was overseen by the Department of Equality, is now in its second year of operation, requiring companies with more than 250 staff to report on differences in average hourly pay between males and females across the business.
People who do not identify as either male or female are not included in the calculations. Of all the public bodies that have filed reports so far, Clare and South Dublin County councils have the biggest pay gaps in favour of women, both at -9.9 per cent. Both gaps have widened on last year in favour of women. County Councils in Tipperary, Dun Laoghaire, Rathdown, Mayo and Cork also have pay gaps in favour of women.
Tipperary and Cork County council swung from pay gaps in favour of men last year. Within the public service, the largest pay gaps in favour of men are in the Office of Public Works, which looks after flood protection, public buildings, and monuments and Transport Infrastructure Ireland which runs the Luas tram and is responsible for road tolls.
Pay gaps in both organisations exceed 16 per cent, though both have improved slightly on last year. That means women earn 0.84 euros for every 1 euro men earn.
Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, also has a high pay gap in favour of men, at 11 per cent. Meath County Council and the National Transport Authority which runs the country’s bus and rail services, both saw their pay gaps widen in favour of men in 2023.
The revelations come after the Financial Services Union called on Ireland’s three main retail banks to urgently address their “very worrying” gender pay gaps. The average gap across the three banks – AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB – is almost 19 per cent, falling to just under 14 per cent in median terms.
Pay gaps can swing from year to year depending on when and how many people are hired, as the calculations are based on a snapshot of company pa-data on one day in the month of June.
(The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK)
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