I thank Senators Ardagh and Crowe for bringing forward this Private Members’ Bill, which the Government will not be opposing today, thus allowing it to go on to Committee Stage.
We all agree discrimination at any stage in employment is unacceptable, and the proposed amendments brought forward here today both to the Employment Equality Act 1998 and of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 seek to improve pay transparency and further prohibit discrimination in employment in Ireland. I very much appreciate the level of work that has gone into designing this Bill, and I commend the Senators on bringing forward a proposal on such an important issue as pay transparency and how it feeds into the wider debate on equality. Bringing forward this Bill at this time is especially appropriate in respect of the wider discussion which will be under way with the EU directive on pay transparency, which it is hoped will be passed quite soon. Ireland and all of the other member states will then be in a position to transpose that into domestic law, so this is a very good time to have those discussions.
Pay transparency is an important part of employment equality and this Bill seeks to ensure that, regardless of who is applying for a job, they are equitably remunerated in the context of that employment. By including approximate remunerations in job advertisements, employers will be taking another step towards creating a more equal working society in Ireland by incorporating equality measures throughout every step of the employment process.
There are many benefits to pay transparency for both employers and employees. For employers, pay transparency can help attract and retain top applicants, or really good talent, as has been said by Senator Ardagh. It can be a competitive advantage in the job advertisement market. Further transparent communication about remuneration helps to build trust from the outset between the employer and the prospective employee and thus promotes a positive working relationship. For employees, on the other hand, pay transparency helps to close gaps and ensures a society where we are making progress towards achieving pay equity. This Bill also seeks to ensure appropriate redress mechanisms are available to those who feel they have been discriminated against regarding pay transparency.
As the Senators will be aware, the issue of pay transparency is also being considered as part of the EU directive, and in March 2021, the EU Commission published proposals for binding pay transparency measures. These measures are intended to complement and support Directive 2006/54/EC, the gender recast directive, to help address gender pay and pensions gaps in the EU. This effort will contribute to the Commission’s goal that women will thrive in a gender equal economy. The finalised text of the directive is expected to be available later this year and there are a number of key elements to the EU directive such as pay transparency for jobseekers, the right to information for employees, reporting on the gender pay gap, something we have already acted on in this House with the Gender Pay Gap Information Act the Government has brought forward, about which I will speak more later, and the joint pay assessment. These are quite a significant range of actions for which this Government will have to legislate over the course of the transposition period, and the work we will do in considering the Senators’ Bill on Committee Stage, and indeed other Bills in this area that I know are coming forth, will have to be understood in the context of always ensuring we are within the guidelines of the EU legislation. I know the Senators would agree with the approach we will take there.
I am looking forward to having the opportunity in a number of weeks to look at the finalised version of the EU directive, how it aligns with the work the Senators have done, and moving forward with legislating. We have advanced significantly on one element of the EU pay transparency directive, which is the signing into law of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act of 2021. That is in play and we have had the first reporting cycle of that Act late in the past year. We had the announcement of the gender pay gap across a range of the larger employers initially. My Department has a gender pay gap in favour of women, as it turns out. It is the only Department to have it because we have a very high representation of women at assistant secretary and principal officer level. That is important as we are the only Department to have that. That is the granular detail this legislation and this Government has brought forward and where it shows its real value.
This will have a very significant impact on decisions employees and workers will make and the companies, departments and agencies they will target to work for. The work we are doing in enhancing gender equality in the workplace is not just for the worker or the employee but also to benefit the employer because those employers who are doing the extra bit and doing even more than legislation requires of them right now will be more attractive to employees. We know that, in many spheres of labour right now in Ireland, it is an employees' market. Being shown to be advanced and being the best, therefore, is a very good position for employers to take.
Advancing socioeconomic equality for women and girls is a high-level objective of the ongoing National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020, and that contributes to advancing women's full participation in employment in public life. Further equality measures through the advertising of remuneration will mean that, from the outset of job advertisements, workers will be in a much stronger position to negotiate and demand fair pay because they have access to the adequate information. Ensuring all rates of pay are transparent will strengthen our ability to prevent discrimination and will also empower those who currently have little recourse to challenging discrimination that may be occurring.
We can all agree it is unacceptable to discriminate against people on equal pay for equal work. The Employment Equality Act of 1998 provides in domestic legislation for equal pay for equal work, or work of equal value, like work for men and women. My Department remains committed to ensuring our equality legislation is kept up to date. That is why, as Minister, I undertook a review of the Equality Acts to examine their functioning and effectiveness in combating discrimination and promoting equality. In this regard, I hope to continue to improve our equality legislation and to promote equality in all areas of employment in Ireland. I look forward, in the next weeks, to bringing forward the report of the public consultation on the review of the Equality Acts. That will be a very valuable piece and we will look at a number of specific recommendations to legislate against discrimination on socioeconomic grounds.
We will be looking at the issue of the definition of gender under the legislation and looking at a number of other issues, such as the issue of non-disclosure agreements, NDAs, which I know have been the subject of much discussion in this House. Following the publication of that report, we will be looking to bring forward heads of Bill in terms of the review of the equality legislation.
Again, I thank the Senators for bringing forward this important Bill. It has been a very useful discussion. The work they have done in conjunction with the work my Department will do on the implementation of the EU pay transparency directive will be very valuable. We will be able to continue the very strong work the Government has done in terms of advancing women's participation in the workforce and protecting women and, indeed, protecting large categories of workers who may have a negotiating imbalance in terms of their current position in the workforce.
