Last updated 2025-08-22
Quick overview
Ireland has had mandatory gender pay gap reporting since the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021. Reporting obligations have been phased in by employer size and will extend to all employers with 50 or more employees by June 2025. Reports must include detailed data on pay, bonuses and benefits and an accompanying statement explaining causes and measures to close gaps.
In January 2025, Ireland published its draft bill implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive. The proposal goes further than EU minimums, notably by requiring salary ranges in job ads and banning salary history questions. By 2026, employers will face expanded transparency obligations and a new central reporting portal.
Reporting requirements
Which companies must report?Which companies must report?
Since 2022: employers with 250+ employees
Since June 2024: employers with 150+ employees
Since June 2025: employers with 50+ employees
Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt
What information needs to be reported?
Employers must report on:
Percentage differences in mean and median hourly pay between men and women, part-time employees and temporary contract workers
Percentage differences in mean and median bonuses between men and women, part-time employees and temporary contract workers
Percentage of male and female employees receiving bonuses
Percentage of male and female employees receiving benefits in kind
Distribution of male and female employees across pay quartiles (lower, lower middle, upper middle, upper quartile)
Employer’s explanation of causes for pay gaps
Measures taken or proposed to reduce pay gaps
When and where to send the data?
Employers select a snapshot date in June each year
Data must cover the 12 months preceding the snapshot date
Reports must be published five months later, moving the annual deadline to November from 2025 onward
Until Autumn 2025: reports must be published on the company’s website or made available at the workplace
From Autumn 2025: reports must be uploaded to a new government online portal accessible to the public
Who can see the results?
Reports are public and must be available to employees
From Autumn 2025, reports will be in a central searchable government database
Equal pay laws
Irish Equality law guarantees equal pay for like work
Like work is defined as work that is the same, similar or of equal value
The Employment Equality Acts 1998–2015 prohibit discrimination in pay and conditions across nine protected characteristics, including gender
Employee rights
Employees have the right to equal pay for equal or equivalent work
Employees may bring equal pay claims to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) or to the Circuit Court (gender claims only)
WRC can order up to three years’ arrears of remuneration, equal pay going forward and corrective actions
Circuit Court can order up to six years’ arrears, equal pay going forward and corrective actions
Risks of non-compliance
Complaints can be filed with the WRC, which investigates compliance
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) can seek enforcement orders in Circuit Court or High Court
No direct financial fines for failing to publish gender pay gap reports
Reputational risk: WRC publishes decisions with employer names
Equal pay violations can lead to significant arrears of pay and court orders
What will change by 2026
New EU-wide rules
The EU Pay Transparency Directive requires:
Salary ranges provided to applicants
Ban on asking salary history questions
Rights for employees to request pay information
Limits on confidentiality clauses around pay
Expanded reporting including categories of workers, not just employees
How Ireland is likely to apply them
Ireland’s draft bill (January 2025) already goes further than the directive:
Salary ranges must be included in job ads (not just provided before interviews)
Salary history questions banned
Expanded gender pay reporting obligations including categories of worker
New government portal for central publication of reports
Deadline for report submission brought forward from December to November
Employers should prepare for:
Publishing salary ranges in all job ads
Removing salary history questions from recruitment processes
Updating internal processes to handle employee information requests
Running test analyses of pay gaps by worker category
FAQ
Do small employers need to report?
No. Employers with fewer than 50 employees remain exempt.
Is there a penalty for missing the reporting deadline?
There are no automatic fines, but the WRC can order corrective actions and public decisions can damage reputation.
Do reports need to be audited?
No independent audit is required, but employers must ensure accuracy.
Are employee representatives entitled to a copy of the report?
The law does not require specific provision to representatives, but reports must be public and accessible.
Will existing reports need to be re-uploaded once the government portal launches?
Yes, all in-scope employers will need to upload reports to the new centralised portal starting Autumn 2025.
Helpful resources
Workplace Relations Commission
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
