I propose to take Questions Nos. 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 507 and 508 together.
Regulations have been made under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 which enable reporting in 2022. The Regulations also require employers to publish a statement setting out, in the employers’ opinion, the reasons for the gender pay gap in their company and what measures are being taken or proposed to be taken by the employer to eliminate or reduce that pay gap. Employers will be required to publish their report and statement in a manner easily accessible to the public, such as on their website.
Future regulations made under the Act may provide for a central website on to which employers will be required to upload their information. Such a system is not in place for the 2022 reporting cycle. Plans are in place to develop an online reporting system for future reporting cycles. The specification of this system is at an early stage of development. It is envisaged that it would provide for the publication of employers' reports as specified in the Regulations, and reports for previous years as specified in the Regulations. It may Include reports produced voluntarily by employers who are not currently required to report. Aggregate statistics for employers reporting gender pay gap information will not be produced on this system. Statistical information on the gender pay gap in Ireland is published by Eurostat from data provided periodically by the Central Statistics Office and available disaggregated by sector (NACE Rev.1.1 and Rev.2 activity), age class, public or private ownership of organisation, and full-time or part-time working. The necessary costs will be assessed in the development of any tender.
Measures concerning enforcement of reporting obligations by relevant employers are provided for in Section 3 of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, which inserted new sections 85B and 85C in the Employment Equality Act 1998. Section 85B enables the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, to apply to the Circuit Court or the High Court for an order requiring a person to comply with the regulations. A person who fails to comply with a Court order is in contempt of that Court. Section 85C allows for an employee to make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, of non-compliance with reporting regulations by their employer. The Director General of the WRC or an adjudication officer, to whom one would expect this function will be delegated, will investigate the complaint if satisfied that there is a prima facie case. If, on investigation, the officer finds in favour of the complainant, he or she may make an order requiring the employer to take a specified course of action in order to comply. Enforcement of WRC orders is through the District Court.
The Department does not maintain a list of individual employers required to report and does not have a role under the legislation in enforcing compliance, including in terms of maintaining a register of employers that have not complied with their responsibilities.