Irish women are more highly qualified and work fewer hours than men. A new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that women here are more likely to have a third-level qualification than their male counterparts.

More than half of women in Ireland aged between 25 and 35 have a third-level qualification compared with just over four out of 10 men.

According to the 'Women and Men in Ireland in 2013' report, men work longer hours and have a higher rate of employment than women.

Men are also more prominent in the labour force with seven in 10 men over 15 at work compared to half of women.

Men also a higher rate of unemployment, while women are overwhelmingly more likely to work looking after the home or family.

Irish women have the joint highest fertility rate in Europe, along with French women.

And men are more likely to die young from suicide and car accidents as well as having a shorter life expectancy. Most murder victims in Ireland are male and the vast majority of the prison population are also men.

But the Equality Authority says it is concerned about the fact that women are under-represented in decision-making roles.

Last year only 15.7% of TDs in Dáil Éireann were women and they accounted for less than one-fifth of members of local authorities.

The average female representation in national parliaments in the European Union was 27.5% in 2013

Brian Merriman is acting CEO of the Equality Authority.