Report on the Gender Pay Gap 2020

The Report commences by highlighting that it deems the gender pay gap as a significant policy concern, and defines it as a metric that shows the difference in earnings of males and females in the labour market. It can be used to show the extent of gender inequalities in the labour market. As part of its analysis, the Report examined 2,600 employees in the Department of Justice, 60% of whom were women. It found that for department employees only (53% of the total figure, and not representing employees of agencies or bodies under the aegis of the Department of Justice), the unadjusted gender pay gap (comparing the pay of all men to all women) was 9%: in 2020, the average man earned €47,040, as opposed to the average female earning which stood at €42,953. The Report notes that 9% is lower than the Irish overall pay gap, which is 14.4%. It also compared the Department of Justice’s pay gap to other state departments, noting that some other gaps were lower. The difference was attributed to the make-up of the workforce in each organisation, levels of pay generally, the impact of senior appointments on organisations, the existence of targeted campaigns to recruit more women at senior management level, and/or the introduction of gender-related recruitment targets.