What to Know About Ireland’s Gender Pay Gap in 2025

When Kathleen Linehan pulled her organisation’s gender pay data last week, she felt an unexpected surge of satisfaction. As group strategic director of human resources at Cork’s Trigon Hotels Group, she discovered what many Irish employers are still struggling to achieve, namely genuine balance across their pay scales. “I took enormous pleasure in seeing the great balance we have,” she says, “so I only see gender pay gap reporting as a positive” [1].

Linehan’s perspective stands in sharp contrast to the scrambling currently underway across Irish boardrooms. With reporting requirements expanding dramatically in 2025, thousands of organisations are confronting the uncomfortable reality that what you measure, you must eventually manage. The question facing Irish business is no longer whether to report their gender pay gaps, but what they’ll do when those gaps become impossible to ignore.

The Latest Regulations

Ireland’s approach to gender pay transparency has been deliberately incremental. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 began modestly in 2022, requiring only organisations with more than 250 employees to publish their data. By 2024, this threshold dropped to 150 employees, and this year marks the most significant expansion yet as any organisation with 50 or more employees must now comply [2].

The practical implications are substantial. Where previously several hundred large employers faced scrutiny, approximately 6,000 public and private sector organisations will now be required to report on their gender pay gaps [3]. The deadline has also tightened. Organisations must now publish their reports within five months of their chosen snapshot date in June, rather than the previous six-month window, with all reports due by November rather than December [4].

These aren’t merely administrative adjustments. As Alison Hodgson, CIPD’s market director for Ireland, notes: “This means setting a snapshot date this month, and issuing the report in November 2025” [5]. For organisations experiencing this requirement for the first time, the compressed timeline creates genuine pressure to get their data systems and analytical processes right.

Behind the Numbers

The data emerging from the first waves of reporting reveals patterns that challenge convenient assumptions about workplace equality. Analysis from PayGap.ie shows that approximately three-quarters of companies report a median hourly wage gap favouring men, with some disparities reaching shocking proportions [6].

Goodbody Stockbrokers reported a median hourly wage gap of 46.6 per cent, acknowledging that “fewer females than males continue to occupy the highest paid roles in the firm”, with just 15 per cent of its highest paid quartile being women despite women comprising 55 per cent of its lowest quartile [7]. The Irish Aviation Authority’s claims its 54 per cent median pay gap “primarily arises due to lower numbers of females in specialist aviation roles such as pilot and engineering roles, as well as low numbers in managerial roles” [8].

The technology sector presents similarly troubling patterns. Meta saw its mean gender pay gap widen from 14.2 per cent in 2023 to 19.2 per cent in 2024 — not only the biggest increase among major tech employers but also the largest gap overall [9]. The company acknowledged that women are “better represented in non-tech roles” whilst tech jobs are “typically paid more” and have a “disproportionate impact on pay gaps” [10].

Yet the picture isn’t uniformly bleak. Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that one third of reporting organisations have seen their gender pay gap reduce [11]. At 49 per cent of organisations, the gap remained unchanged, whilst 18 per cent noted an increase [12]. The Economic & Social Research Institute reported an average median pay gap of 30.9 per cent in favour of women, “reflecting not just the higher proportion of females in senior roles but also the fact that pay scales are wider at senior levels” [13].

The Drivers

The reasons behind gender pay gaps prove consistently more complex than simple discrimination. Based on previous reports, the most common stated drivers include lack of female representation at senior levels, with predominantly males in board and leadership roles; occupational segregation where many occupations are gender-dominated; more women holding part-time roles, which has negatively affected their bonus pay and overall earnings; a higher proportion of male employees tending to voluntarily opt for overtime; and bonus structures where men typically receive higher amounts, likely because bonus pay is connected to salary and more men than women hold senior positions [14].

Construction companies are a prime illustration of occupational segregation. Eight of the fifteen companies with the lowest representation of women in the top 25 per cent of earners operate in this sector [15]. Conversely, twelve of the fifteen companies with the lowest representation of men in the bottom quartile work in health and social care, with women comprising between 83.6 and 96 per cent of top earners in these organisations [16].

These structural patterns explain why organisations can simultaneously maintain rigorous equal pay policies — ensuring people receive identical compensation for identical work — whilst reporting substantial gender pay gaps. It’s worth emphasising that the gender pay gap measures the difference between average hourly wages of all men and all women in an organisation, regardless of seniority or role [17]. It’s fundamentally about workforce composition rather than pay discrimination per se.

Transparency

The immediate challenge for many organisations lies simply in compliance. Research reveals that 45 per cent of employers still hadn’t submitted a gender pay gap report more than a month after the closing date last year, a troubling indicator of either capacity constraints or reluctance to engage with the requirement [18].

Yet compliance represents merely the first hurdle. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality announced plans for a centralised reporting portal, though its rollout has proven more limited than initially promised. Originally envisaged to encompass all 6,000 reporting organisations this autumn, the portal will now launch as a pilot scheme for just 600-1,000 companies with more than 100 employees [19]. Mandatory reporting through the portal for all organisations with 50 or more employees has been pushed to 2026, pending additional legislation currently in development [20].

This delay hasn’t diminished the portal’s ultimate significance. As Hodgson explains: “This portal will play an important part in Ireland’s gender pay gap reporting system. It’s hoped that the portal will be searchable and easy to navigate along factors such as industries and size of the business” [21]. The transparency this creates could prove transformative. Current and prospective employees will be able to see precisely how organisations compare, potentially influencing recruitment and retention in ways that abstract commitment statements never could.

The European Context

Ireland’s reporting requirements, whilst increasingly rigorous, represent only the beginning of what’s coming. The EU Pay Transparency Directive will significantly expand obligations across member states, including Ireland, with implementation required by June 2026.

Under the directive, companies in Ireland with 100 or more employees will be required to publicly disclose and fix any unexplained gender pay gaps. By June 2027, companies with 150 or more employees must submit their first report using 2026 payroll data, with companies of 250 or more employees reporting annually thereafter and those with 150-249 employees reporting every three years [22]. Companies with 100-149 employees must submit their first report by June 2031.

Beyond reporting, the directive introduces substantive new requirements. Job advertisements must include salary levels or ranges — information that will interest existing employees as much as applicants. Employees gain the right to proactively request information on pay levels for their positions and to see how career progression affects pay. Where pay gaps above 5 per cent exist at any organisational level that cannot be justified using objective gender-neutral criteria, employers must explain them and may need to consult with workers’ representatives or undergo joint pay assessments [23].

The burden of proof shifts decisively. As Danny Mansergh, leader of the Career Practice at Mercer Ireland, observes: “Employers regularly assert that the existence of a gender pay gap does not mean that they are engaging in unfair pay practices. This is usually a fair assertion… but employers have rarely been required to prove that their pay practices are fair. Under the Pay Transparency Directive, the burden of proof on pay equity moves pretty decisively to the employer in the event of claims of unfair practice” [24].

What To Do

The real question facing Irish organisations isn’t whether transparency will arrive, as it’s already here. The question is what they’ll do with it.

Ireland’s legislation requires more than numerical disclosure. Employers must prepare a supplemental narrative explaining the reasons for differences in pay and any measures being taken or proposed to eliminate or reduce pay gaps. This requirement pushes organisations beyond passive reporting toward active remediation.

Some employers have already moved decisively. Companies report implementing gender-neutral job descriptions, balanced recruitment processes, leadership development for line managers, and talent development through mentorship programmes. Linehan’s approach at Trigon Hotels exemplifies proactive engagement by introducing structured, transparent pay scales and training to support career progression, tracking gender balance and nationality mix monthly, and treating pay equity as a continuous improvement process rather than a compliance exercise [25].

Yet Mansergh acknowledges the complexity: “Arguments over fairness of pay can become toxic in a non-transparent world, with misinformation sometimes playing a very destructive role” [26]. Transparency creates its own tensions, particularly when employees discover new hires receive premium salaries in hot job markets. “Managerial discretion in setting pay can lead to perceptions of unfairness, especially when employees can compare their salaries with new hires,” he notes [27].

His prescription is that companies should conduct comprehensive pay equity analysis to assess current structures and identify discrepancies; establish clear pay ranges for all roles that reflect both market standards and organisational reality; communicate clear guidelines on how pay is determined based on allowable factors like experience, performance and qualifications; train hiring managers and HR personnel to handle pay inquiries; and engage employees through surveys or focus groups to understand their perceptions [28].

Moving Forward

Ultimately, transparency transforms gender pay from a compliance obligation into a competitive factor. Organisations demonstrating genuine progress will find it easier to attract talent in a market where prospective employees can readily compare employers. Those with persistent, unexplained gaps may find themselves at a disadvantage regardless of their other attractions.

“It has long been said that what you don’t measure, you can’t manage,” argues Mansergh. “Gender pay gap reporting will give employers valuable insights into their internal pay and talent dynamics. For those serious about tackling inequity, it will be an early step towards a fairer and more inclusive environment that will benefit both employees and the organisation itself” [29].

The evidence suggests that progress is possible but not inevitable. If efforts to close the gender pay gap globally continue at their current rate, it would take women 134 years to reach full parity, according to the World Economic Forum [30]. Ireland’s women earn on average 8.6 per cent less than men according to 2023 EU estimates, whilst 2019 analysis from the Economic and Social Research Institute found women retired earning 35 per cent less than men, creating long-term economic consequences that extend well beyond working years [31].

The expansion of reporting requirements to encompass organisations with 50 or more employees represents a watershed. With thousands of additional employers now subject to scrutiny, and a centralised portal making comparisons inevitable, the conversation shifts from whether gaps exist to what organisations will do about them. Those treating transparency as opportunity rather than obligation will likely find themselves better positioned for the labour market of the next decade, one where information asymmetries between employers and employees continue to erode, and where demonstrated commitment to equity matters more than stated intentions.