Four government departments miss deadline to publish gender pay gap reports 

Organisations with more than 250 employees are now obliged by law to report on the hourly gender pay gap.

Four government departments have missed the deadline to publish their gender pay gap reports in the first year it became mandatory.

The Departments of Transport, Health, and Foreign Affairs were late publishing their reports, while the Department of Housing has yet to publish.

This is a breach of the Government's own guidance on reporting under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021.

The law requires organisations with more than 250 employees to report on the hourly gender pay gap across a range of metrics on a chosen ‘snapshot’ date in June, publishing their findings six months later in December.

Jennifer Whitmore, Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, told the Irish Examiner that it is “astonishing and completely unacceptable” that some departments were late in publishing, calling on the Government to “take their own legislation seriously".

Jennifer Whitmore said it was 'unacceptable' that the Government was not taking its own legislation seriously. Picture: Damien Storan

She also criticised the lack of a centralised online portal saying “people shouldn’t have to be searching for this information".

The Department of Defence report suggested an online platform would be established this year.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the report “was published in December 2022,” but did not comment on why it missed the deadline.

The Department of Foreign Affairs did not comment on why its report was not published on time. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said "the report is currently being finalised and will be published shortly" but gave no reason for the delay.

A Department of Transport spokesperson said “in line with legislation, the Department's Gender Pay Report was published within six months of the June date snapshot, in December 2022".

The department chose June 24 as its snapshot date, but the report was not published until December 30.

The Department of Further and Higher Education and the Department of Rural and Community Development did not prepare a report as they fall below the 250-employee threshold.

However, the Department of the Taoiseach published a report despite also falling below the threshold.

A spokesperson for the Department of Further and Higher Education later clarified that it would produce a report "as a matter of good practice" and that it would be completed "in the coming weeks".

The Department of Rural and Community Development also said it would be “reviewing its position with a view to publishing at a later stage”.

Average pay gap 8.59%

Of the 15 government departments that have published a report, the average gender pay gap stands at 8.59%.

This is lower than Eurostat data from 2018, which suggests the overall gender pay gap in Ireland is 11.3%. 

However, several departments reported pay gaps of double figures.

The Departments of Finance, Defence, and the Environment all reported pay gaps of 12%.

The Department of Foreign Affairs reported a gap of 13.87%, down from 15% last year, while the Department of Transport's was over 20%.

The smallest gender pay gap came from the Department of Children, which reported a 3.6% gap in favour of women. Close to 80% of the department is staffed by women.

Ten departments are staffed by a majority of women, with the average across all departments sitting at 58%.

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Despite this, the pay gap remains since men are more likely to be employed in the highest-paid positions.

Departments were required to divide employees into four groupings based on hourly earnings — lower, lower middle, upper middle, and upper — and provide the percentage of women employed across these four levels.

Analysis of the published reports shows women hold fewer than half of the positions in the upper pay quartiles in eight departments.

Four of these departments have fewer than 40% of women across the highest-paid positions. 

In the Department of Transport, where the pay gap is largest, women occupy just 31% of these positions.

Each department was also required to outline any measures that will be taken to improve diversity and reduce the pay gap.

Commitments to improve

Most departments committed to improving flexible working opportunities for both male and female employees and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion across the organisation.

There was also an emphasis on encouraging female employees to apply for promotions.

The Department of Transport plans to introduce an "externally accredited programme to support career development objectives, including encouraging women to apply for senior roles".

A recent report from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform further highlights the disparity between male and female applicants across the Government.

Just 33% of applications received for State board vacancies in 2021 came from women. 

Similarly, only 22% of applications for chairperson positions came from female candidates in 2021.

Ms Whitmore said further scrutiny is required to resolve the pay gap within government departments and that women were not receiving recognition for their work through promotions.

She also said recruitment for positions in government departments need to be looked at through a “gender lens” to encourage more applications from women in the future.