Vol. 463 No. 3
39 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the most recent figures from the Central Statistics Office indicating that women still earn substantially less than men in virtually every area of industrial employment; the proposals, if any, he has to address this ongoing discrepancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6407/96]
The most recent figures from the CSO indicate that in June 1995 the average female hourly earnings in industry were just over 71 per cent of the male hourly rate, with an average female weekly earnings at just over 63 per cent of the male rate.
I should point out that a smaller wage gap was identified in a report in 1994 by the ESRI on pay differentials across all employments. As the CSO figures are drawn primarily from manufacturing industry which includes only one third of all employees and less than one fifth of female employees the CSO statistics do not reflect the level of male-female wage differentials in employment generally. The ESRI analysed earnings of all male and female employees and found that female hourly earnings were approximately 80 per cent of men's, almost 10 per cent higher than the current figure for industry.
While there may be limits to the extent to which Government can intervene in the operations of the labour market which give rise to pay differentials a number of approaches are being pursued which should prompt further progress.
One approach is to combat pay discrimination and unequal treatment of women in employment and this will be pursued through strengthening employment equality legislation. Another approach involves facilitating greater participation by women in the labour market over the life cycle so that productivity related differences with men can be reduced. In this regard the ESRI study identified employment experience as a significant factor explaining pay differentials. In response to this I have sought to enhance family leave measures such as the Maternity Protection Act, 1994, and the Adoptive Leave Act, 1995, and I also intend pursuing provision of parental leave which is currently under consideration at EU level.
