Lack of Information on Public Consultation to tackle Gender Pay Gap- Kingston

Labour spokesperson on Equality, Cllr Deirdre Kingston, has expressed her disappointment at the lack of information surrounding the public consultation process to tackle the gender pay gap.

The Government announced earlier this month that employers, trade unions and members of the public would be invited to have their say on the issue over a six week period beginning on Monday.

However there is no information as to how the public can get involved in the process on either the Department of Justice or Enterprise websites.

Cllr Kingston said:

“I am disappointed that despite much fanfare surrounding the announcement of this six-week public consultation earlier this month, there appears to be very little information as to how the public can actually have their say on tackling the gender pay gap.

“As is usually the case, we would expect to see a consultation document and contact details for where the submissions should be sent, and people should also be advised as to what they’re actually being consulted on.

“If we are really serious about closing the gender pay gap and bringing about greater equality between men and women in the workplace we need to take this public consultation process seriously.

“As the Minister himself said in his recent press release-‘narrowing the pay gap is in all our interests’; so too is the important process of engaging with the public and key groups to meet this goal, and should be followed up with visible action.”