MORE MUST BE DONE TO TACKLE THE GENDER-PAY GAP – NASH
Speaking after the publication of Morgan McKinley’s Gender Pay Gap Ireland 2016 report Ged Nash, Labour Spokesperson on Equality and Labour Affairs has expressed his concern that the gender pay gap in Ireland now stands at 20%.
Figures published by Morgan McKinley today shows that on average women earn 20% or €12,500 less than men doing the same job and despite achieving higher levels of educational attainment than men, women are still paid less for the work they do.
“The stark figures published today are very concerning. The Government needs to take real action on this and ensure that all large companies and public sector employers are required to publish the difference in pay between their male and female employees each year. Over time, this will highlight which companies are taking corrective action and allow workers and consumers to react accordingly.
“The increases in the National Minimum Wage by Labour in Government have had a very positive effect on women in work. Two thirds of workers on the Minimum Wage are women, all of whom will have seen their pay increase by €3,000 a year due to Labour’s increases in 2011 and 2015, if working a full week. It is, however, wholly unacceptable that a significant gender pay gap still exists in our economy.
“Last night, the Seanad passed Second Stage of Labour’s Bill to tackle ‘If & When’ contracts. This is good news for women who are disproportionately represented in low paid jobs in sectors of the economy such as retail, hospitality and the community care sectors. I also commissioned the Low Pay Commission to undertake research into the reasons why two-thirds of all workers on the National Minimum Wage are women. It is expected that this research will be published shortly and will inform government policy in tackling gender pay inequality.”