From:Department of Children, Disability and Equality

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, has today launched the public side of the Gender Pay Gap Portal, allowing everyone to see, compare and review the employer data on gender pay gaps and filter by year, sector and company size.

The public side of the portal brings employers’ gender pay gap data together in a standardised manner, to improve our understanding of the pay gap and how we might reduce it, further advancing equality between women and men.

Minister Foley, as Minister with responsibility for gender equality, said:

‘The launch of the public side of the Gender Pay Gap Portal provides a clear and accessible way to view gender pay gap data. This will help to shine a light on pay disparities and support progress toward greater equality in the workforce. This publicly available information on the Gender Pay Gap Portal will encourage employers to meet their legal obligation to report on their gender pay gaps. It will also help our understanding of the gender pay gap in Ireland and how it might be eliminated.

The Gender Pay Gap portal supports the objectives of the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030 to further women’s economic empowerment.

As of 2025, all employers with more than 50 employees are required to publish their gender pay gap information on their website or make it publicly available to the public in some other manner if they do not have a website.

The Gender Pay Gap Portal was launched on 18 November 2025, alongside the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030, on a voluntary basis for employers with over 50 employees to upload their gender pay gap reports.

The Gender Pay Gap reports that were submitted on a voluntary basis have now become available for the public to view and will remain on the Portal when its use becomes mandatory for the 2026 reporting cycle.

‘Through a suite of measures, we have already seen Ireland’s gender pay gap gradually reduce from 14.4% in 2017 to a provisional figure of 8.3% in 2024. I would encourage all employers in scope of the legislation to register on the Gender Pay Gap Portal and to upload your reports so your data will be captured on the Portal in advance of its mandatory use this November. We cannot change what we cannot see, and the portal brings all the data into one place, so we can make a real difference.”

The data on the Gender Pay Gap Portal is available to view here:https://www.genderpaygapireland.gov.ie/

Some further amendments to the gender pay gap legislation have been approved by Government to make it a legal requirement for all employers in scope of the legislation to submit their reports to the Gender Pay Gap portal for the 2026 reporting cycle.

Employers in scope of the legislation must also continue to publish their reports on their own website or make them accessible to the public where they do not have a website. This is designed to make gender pay gap reporting as widely available and visible as possible.

Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021

The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 introduced the legislative basis for annual gender pay gap reporting in Ireland. Employers are obliged to publish their Gender Pay Gap Report on their website within 5 months of their “snapshot” date in June or make it available to the public in some other manner where they do not have a website.

This obligation will remain in place when reporting via the Gender Pay Gap Portal becomes mandatory in 2026. The Employment Equality Act 1998 will be amended to make it a legal requirement for all employers in scope of the legislation to submit their reports to the Gender Pay Gap portal for the 2026 reporting cycle.

The Regulations under the Act require organisations with over 50 employees to report on their gender pay gap across a range of metrics and 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, to eliminate or reduce that pay gap.

The Gender Pay Gap Portal, launched on 18 November 2025 enables employers with 50 or more employees to upload their gender pay gap reports in one central, publicly accessible location. The Portal is currently open for voluntary submissions ahead of mandatory reporting from 2026.

The public side of the Gender Pay Gap Portal was launched on 18 June 2026.

The Employment Equality Act 1998, which was amended by the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, is being further amended to make it a legislative requirement for all employers in scope of the legislation to submit their reports to the Gender Pay Gap Portal for the 2026 and subsequent reporting cycles. It is important to note that relevant employers are already required to publish their Gender Pay Gap Information on their websites in 2025, or to make it available to the public in some other manner where they do not have a website. This requirement will remain when use of the portal becomes mandatory in 2026.

For further information see: gov.ie/genderpaygap

The Pay Transparency Directive, officially known as Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms, came into force in June 2023.

Member States were required to transpose the Directive into national law by 7 June 2026, however Ireland and the majority of other EU member states have not completed transposition by this deadline. Ireland's Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 transposed a large portion of the Directive, particularly in relation to Article 9 on Gender Pay Gap Reporting. The implementation of this Act and associated regulations require employers to report their gender pay gap each year, and the measures that are being taken to eliminate or reduce the gap.

The General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill includes provisions to transpose Article 5 of the Directive regarding the provision of information on salary to potential employees. The General Scheme was referred to Pre-Legislative Scrutiny in June 2025. Pre-Legislative Scrutiny was completed in October 2025, and officials are considering the recommendations in the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny report.

Department officials are currently developing a General Scheme to transpose the remaining elements of the Pay Transparency Directive into Irish law. The Department will work with employers, employees and their representatives in the implementation of the Directive, which will be on a phased basis. Employers will not be penalised for not having all elements of Directive completed in June 2026 and the Department is working with stakeholders to communicate this message.