Irish employers sharpen their focus on gender pay equality

There are bigger gender pay gaps in Ireland’s legal (54.7%), banking (23.9%) and engineering (21.9%) companies than in consumer goods (3.2%), public sector (3.9%) and retail (8.5%)

Oliver Coakley, director with Citris Rewards Consulting.

Employers have begun taking steps to comply with new mandatory pay reporting requirements that will come into force in June 2026 under the EU Pay Transparency Directive.

Larger companies in Ireland, those with 250 or more staff, have been reporting on gender-based pay transparency since 2022. From 2026, the directive will introduce a range of new obligations for employers of all sizes.