The gender pay gap across Irish organisations that published salary data last year was 12.6%, analysis by PwC Ireland has found.

An analysis of up to 500 companies who have reported gender pay gap details found the widest gaps are in the finance, banking, insurance, legal and construction sectors while the smallest gaps are in retail, health and charity organisations.

The 12.6% gap compares to an 11.3% gap in 2019, as reported in the latest available national gender pay gap data, and an EU average gender pay gap of 13% recorded by Eurostat in 2020. The mean hourly bonus gap was estimated at 22.9% in 2022.

Doone O'Doherty, partner at PwC Ireland, said the relatively high number of makes in more senior positions was a key factor in the persistent pay gap.

"Looking at disclosures on pay quartiles, three-quarters of companies appear to show a higher relative proportion of men in the ‘highest paid’ quartile," she continued.

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"The more males a company has in these top quartiles relative to the number of females, the higher that company’s pay gap is likely to be.”

The 21.1% pay gap in insurance was nearly twice the national average, while the gap in charitable organisation is approximately 1.7%.

Nearly nine in 10 companies (87%) disclosed a gender pay gap in favour of males, with 71% of firms disclosing a pay gap above 5% and 48% having a gap above the 2019 average of 11.3%.

Some 82% of firms paying bonuses disclosed a bonus gap in favour of males, and 22.9% mean hourly bonus gap is 1.8-times the size of the reported mean hourly pay gap, again reflecting the high number of men in senior roles.

The analysis shows that the average reported proportion of females in the workforce is 45%, but the proportion of women to men tends to be lowest in the engineering, construction, manufacturing and technology sectors.

Conversely, the healthcare and retail sectors have a much higher ratio of females to males. 

Businesses are required to file their 2023 gender pay gap reports in December 2023, based on their snapshot date from June 2023. Smaller organisations with 150 or more employees will have to report from 2024 onwards.

PwC’s  Hopes and Fears Survey 2022 found that employees want companies to take a stand, with transparency around workplace diversity featuring high on the list of employee demands. 

“A number of companies have set specific targets for the representation of women in senior roles in their organisations. Meanwhile, others have committed to reviewing and improving policies in areas such as recruitment and parental leave policies or introducing new initiatives such as unconscious bias training," O'Doherty said.

“For those organisations embracing diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), gender pay gap reporting presents a positive opportunity to strengthen their brand by promoting their efforts publicly.

"For those that are yet to embrace the topic, it provides a chance to understand the reality in their organisation, why a gender pay gap exists and what is driving it. They can then begin to make data-informed decisions.”

(Pic: Getty Images)