635. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current status of the transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive into Irish law; when the relevant legislation is expected to be introduced and enacted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53579/26]

The Government is fully committed to the complete and meaningful implementation of the Pay Transparency  Directive.

The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 transposed a large portion of the Pay Transparency  Directive, particularly in relation to Article 9 on Gender Pay Gap Reporting. The implementation of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act and associated regulations require employers to report their gender pay gap each year, and the measures that are being taken to eliminate or reduce the gap.

The full and complete implementation of the EU Pay Transparency directive is a challenge for many EU member states, with the majority indicating they were not in a position to meet the June 7 deadline, including Ireland. While the June 7 date for full transposition of the Directive has not been achieved, the remaining work to achieve transposition is a priority for the Department.

The Department continues to engage constructively with the European Commission to advise of the ongoing work to transpose the directive as soon as possible, with partial transposition already notified to the Commission.

Work is ongoing at pace to develop the necessary legislation to transpose the remaining provisions of the Pay Transparency Directive as soon as possible, including the obligation for employers to carry out Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation and to categorise employees and calculate the gender pay gap in such categories. A dedicated Irish Employer Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation toolkit, based on the recently published EIGE toolkit, is being commissioned by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Employers will be invited to attend training workshops based on this adapted toolkit.

The Department will also continue to work with employers, employees and their representatives to support to enable implementation of the Directive, which will be on a phased basis once the passage of the legislation is complete.

Employers will not be penalised for not having all elements of Directive completed in June 2026 and the Department has been working with stakeholders to communicate this message.

At present, employers will remain obligated to calculate and publish information on their gender pay gap by the end of November and, following a small amendment to the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, employers will be obligated to report that information to the Minister via the dedicated Gender Pay Gap Portal for the 2026 Reporting Cycle.