Vol. 493 No. 2
56 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his intentions regarding the Programme 2000 commitment to update the report on male and female wage differentials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15442/98]
The commitment in the Partnership 2000 agreement for inclusion employment and competitiveness, to undertake a follow up study to the ESRI Report No 163 on male-female wage differentials, is being addressed. Agreement on the terms of the study with both social partners, IBEC and the ICTU has been concluded and the Economic and Social Research Institute, which has been commissioned to undertake the follow-up study, has commenced preliminary work on the project. A first draft of the report is expected by the end of the year with the publication of the final report envisaged by the autumn of 1999.
