Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee notes the detailed information in the Government’s reports, including the attached documents.

1. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness Consultative Group on Male/Female Wage Differentials is overseeing research on the gender pay gap in several sectors of the Irish economy, the findings of which were to be presented in February 2003. It also notes that the Consultative Group is preparing a report addressing the issues raised by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in its 2000 report "How Unequal? - Men and Women in the Irish Labour Market". The report will address the issue of the regular collection of statistics on the gender pay gap in Ireland and was due to be completed by the end of 2002. The Committee asks the Government to supply copies of both the above documents and to continue to provide information, including statistical data, on the progress achieved in reducing the remuneration gap in Ireland.

2. The Committee notes the information regarding gender-related equal pay cases brought before the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI), including the attached copies of equal pay decisions issued by the ODEI in the reporting period, and further notes that both the ODEI and the Labour Court maintain online databases of their decisions as they are issued. Referring to its previous comments on the objective appraisal of jobs within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention, the Committee notes with interest that section 7(1)(c) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 ("the Act") authorizes the undertaking of formal job comparisons, as shown from three ODEI decisions issued between January 2002 and April 2003. In each of these cases equality officers carried out work inspections and comparisons of dissimilar jobs on the basis of "skill, physical or mental requirements, responsibility and working conditions" (section 7(1)(c)) to establish whether "like work" within the meaning of sections 7(1)(c) and 19(3) of the Act existed between the complainants and their comparators; none of the complainants were found to have performed work of equal value. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the use of objective job appraisals by the ODEI in cases applying section 7(1)(c) of the Act, the effectiveness of such evaluations in reducing unjustifiable pay differences between women and men, and to indicate whether job evaluation training is provided to ODEI officers.

3. Article 1(a) of the Convention. In its previous comments the Committee has referred to the exclusion of pension rights from the remuneration’s definition under section 2(1) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998. It notes that the Government’s reports indicate that due to the European Communities (occupational benefits schemes) regulations and case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the Pensions Act has been amended to reflect the principle laid down by the ECJ according to which an employer’s contributions paid in the context of defined contributions to occupational pension schemes may differ if the aim is to equalize the amount of the final benefits or to make them more nearly equal for both sexes. The Committee also notes that under section 10.5(f) the "Sustaining Progress - Social Partnership Agreement 2003-05" legislation addressing the equality aspect of occupational pensions will be adopted in early 2004. The Committee asks the Government to inform in its next report on the measures taken in the framework of this agreement to ensure equality in the occupational pension schemes between men and women.

4. Noting the detailed information supplied respecting the activities of the Equality Authority, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific initiatives undertaken by the Equality Authority to apply the principle of equal remuneration between men and women.