The gender pay gap in Ireland comes from policies and societal expectations that disproportionately affect women, according to Jennifer Keane, founder of PayGap.ie. 

Speaking on The Anton Savage Show, Keane outlined the scale of the issue and the changes needed to close the gap.

When asked about the size of the gap today, Keane said the Central Statistics Office records it at 9.6% based on 2022 data. 

However, from her own analysis, gathered directly from Irish businesses puts the real figure closer to 11%.

“The pay gap itself is a representation of equity in a company, is your company equal or not?” she said. 

“The gap means I have less of an opportunity over the length of my career, to progress into those higher-paid roles.”

Keane emphasised that the causes of inequality are often found in unexpected places.

“Policies that people aren't thinking of, for example, one of the key areas where discrepancies show up is overtime,” she said. 

"Are women able to avail of overtime or do things like childcare and family responsibilities stop you from working overtime?”

In many cases, Keane added that women cannot take additional hours even when the opportunity exists because of responsibilities outside the workplace.

She described an example raised at the Public Sector Women in Leadership conference: a woman working across the PSNI and the Gardaí who requested a four-day week. 

“She ran up against a policy that inspectors have to work 5 days.

Why? No one could answer. It has just always been the rule.”

The woman ultimately entered “a prolonged fight to get that flexibility,” highlighting how these policies “disadvantage people who need that extra flexibility, and usually the people who need that flexibility are women.”

“We don’t incentivise people to have children”

Keane argued that solving the gender pay gap requires major policy and government action because the root causes are societal.

“We need to look at the root cause. 

Why do women take more flexible working arrangements? Because the burden of childcare falls disproportionately on women.”

She pointed out that in Ireland, maternity leave is not required to be fully paid and parental leave remains unpaid, leaving many families financially vulnerable when they have children.

Gender signage (Martin Keene/PA), © PA Archive/PA Images

“We want people to have children, but we don’t incentivise people to have children, and you actively lose out on your career,” she said. 

This expectation, “that the mother will stay home and the father will go to work,” is no longer realistic for most families, where both parents work full-time.

How other countries close the gap

Some EU countries have achieved far smaller gaps, including Luxembourg and Italy at around 2.2%. Ireland, by contrast, sits in the lower third of the EU, at 12.7%.

Keane said the difference comes down to stronger state supports: 

“It comes back to these different benefits. If childcare was more accessible or affordable, people wouldn't have to choose between their careers.”

She stressed that progress does not require every woman to pursue full-time work without interruption. 

Equity means ensuring decisions are freely made. “It’s hard to get complete equity. 

What you want is making choices freely, you’re not making that choice because of economic difficulties or societal pressure.”

Written by Annemarie Roberts