Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2017
720. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she will take to address the structural inequality caused by precarious work practices here which is adversely affecting the living standards of women. [39722/17]
View answerPolicy responsibility for gender equality in employment remains with my colleagues the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD and David Stanton TD, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration, and Integration. To that end, the Department of Justice and Equality are currently undertaking a public consultation seeking views on the factors creating the gender pay gap. See attached link: http://genderequality.ie/en/GE/Pages/WP17000002.
Regarding my Department, on 2nd May last the Government approved legislative proposals in response to the commitment in the Programme for Government to address the problems caused by the increased casualization of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious employment.
The draft proposals aim to address key issues which have been identified as being areas where current employment rights legislation can be strengthened to the benefit of employees, particularly low-paid, more vulnerable workers, without imposing unnecessarily onerous burdens on employers and businesses.
Officials in my Department are working closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the drafting of this legislation and it is intended to publish this Bill before the end of the year, subject to Government approval.
