Pay transparency in Ireland
-
Pay information requests Pending
Employees can ask for their own pay level and the averages for colleagues doing equal or equal-value work, broken down by sex.
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Time to respond No Directive-specific response deadline identified
Every request starts a clock. Answering one needs pay structures and equal-value groupings that already exist.
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Salary history questions are banned
Applicants learn the pay range before the interview, and employers may not ask what they earn today.
Ireland already has a mandatory gender pay gap reporting regime, built on the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 and updated by regulations including S.I. No. 212/2025. Employers with more than 50 employees must report their gender pay gap annually. This is a pre-existing national law, not something created by the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
The broader Directive obligations, things like salary range disclosure in job ads and a ban on asking about salary history, are covered by a separate General Scheme of Equality Acts amendments. That General Scheme is a published draft. It is not yet law, so none of its proposed duties bind employers today.
In short: Ireland’s status is mixed. One part of the picture is settled and in force, the other part is still being drafted.
The measure
- Law or measure
- Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 and regulations, including S.I. No. 212/2025; General Scheme of Equality Acts amendments for recruitment transparency
- Core obligations start
- Pending
- Who is covered
- Existing gender pay gap reporting applies to employers with more than 50 employees; broader Directive duties remain pending
What the law requires
- Pay range before the interview Source for: Pay range before the interview
- Salary history questions banned Source for: Salary history questions banned
- Gap reporting from 50 employees Source for: Gap reporting from 50 employees
- Joint pay assessment at a No national JPA trigger identified gap
1 further dimension is still being verified against official sources.
How Ireland differs from the Directive
Ireland's gender-pay-gap reporting threshold is 50 employees under S.I. No. 212/2025. Reports are annual and must be published within five months of the June snapshot. Broader Directive transposition remains incomplete.
On at least one point the national rules go beyond the Directive minimum, so preparing to the EU baseline alone is not enough here.
What this means for employers
If you employ more than 50 people in Ireland, your annual gender pay gap reporting obligation is already real and ongoing. It runs on a June snapshot, with publication due within five months of that snapshot. This part of your compliance calendar does not change while the Directive legislation is still being finalised.
The proposed recruitment transparency measures, salary ranges in job postings and a ban on salary history questions, would add new duties if the General Scheme becomes law as drafted. They are not obligations yet, but they are worth preparing for now rather than waiting for a final text. There is also a right for employees to receive certain pay information, though the details of that right have not yet been confirmed.
- Keep your existing gender pay gap reporting on track at the 50-employee threshold, on the usual annual cycle.
- Watch the reporting portal guidance closely. As of May 2026, legislation to make the government portal mandatory for the 2026 cycle was still being drafted.
- Start reviewing job advertisements and hiring practices against the proposed salary range and salary history rules, so you are not starting from zero if they pass.
- Track the General Scheme’s progress through the legislative process, since it will also introduce equal-value and joint pay assessment processes once finalised.
- Note the two Irish authorities involved: the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the Workplace Relations Commission, alongside the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as equality body.
Enforcement and open questions
- Competent authority
- Department of Children, Disability and Equality; Workplace Relations Commission
- Equality body
- Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
- What could still change
- Official guidance updated 13 May 2026 stated that legislation was still being drafted to make use of the government portal mandatory for the 2026 reporting cycle.
Common questions
Does Ireland already require gender pay gap reporting?
Yes. Under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 and regulations including S.I. No. 212/2025, employers with more than 50 employees must report their gender pay gap annually. Reports are due within five months of the June snapshot date.
Are salary ranges required in Irish job ads yet?
Not yet. A rule requiring salary range disclosure is included in a General Scheme of Equality Acts amendments, but that is a published draft, not law. Employers should watch its progress rather than treat it as a current obligation.
Is asking about salary history banned in Ireland?
A salary history ban is proposed as part of the same General Scheme covering recruitment transparency. It is not yet in force, so there is no legal ban on asking candidates about salary history today.
What is the employee threshold for Ireland's pay reporting law?
The existing gender pay gap reporting law applies to employers with more than 50 employees. This threshold is set by the pre-existing national regime, separate from the still-pending Directive transposition.
Who enforces pay transparency rules in Ireland?
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the Workplace Relations Commission are the competent authorities. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission acts as the national equality body.
What should employers in Ireland do next?
Continue your existing annual gender pay gap reporting at the 50-employee threshold and keep an eye on remaining Directive legislation. Guidance updated in May 2026 noted that rules to make the government reporting portal mandatory for 2026 were still being drafted.
- Pay information request right Art. 7(1)
- Pending
- Response deadline Art. 7(4)
- No Directive-specific response deadline identified
- Salary range in recruitment Art. 5(1)
- Yes
- Salary history questions banned Art. 5(2)
- Yes
- Joint pay assessment trigger Art. 10(1)
- No national JPA trigger identified
Employees may request their individual pay level and the averages for workers performing equal or equal-value work, broken down by sex.
The employer must answer in writing within this period.
Applicants receive the pay or pay range before the interview, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria.
Official government legislative-policy material supports a pending salary-range requirement; this is not enacted.
Read the sourceWhether employers are prohibited from asking applicants about their current or previous pay.
Official government legislative-policy material supports a pending salary-history restriction; this is not enacted.
Read the sourceThe unjustified gap that obliges the employer and worker representatives to assess pay together.
- Reporting threshold
- 50 employees
- Reporting model
- Pre-existing national reporting Operational data-production and filing model for pay-gap reporting: employer-calculated, authority-calculated, hybrid, proposed, pre-existing or absent.
- First report, 250 or more employees
- Existing annual report: within 5 months of June snapshot; Directive dates pending
- First report, 100 to 149 employees
- Existing annual report: within 5 months of June snapshot; Directive dates pending
- Metrics required
- Different / modified Art. 9(1): Seven metrics: mean gap; variable-component gap; median gap; median variable gap; variable-pay participation by sex; quartile distribution by sex; category-level gap split basic and variable.
- Pre-existing regime
- Existing annual gender-pay-gap reporting applies from the 50-employee threshold; broader Directive-specific rights remain pending.
- Formal transposition stage
- Published draft
- Scope
- Mixed
Next milestone
Monitor publication of the Government's broader Directive transposition measure; current public schemes do not establish Article 7/JPA operational rules.
Primary sources
- Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 and regulations, including S.I. No. 212/2025; General Scheme of Equality Acts amendments for recruitment transparency Primary source, checked 17 August 2026
- Formal transposition stage Published draft · proposed · high confidence
- Core employer obligations Not operational · pre existing · high confidence
- Transposition scope Mixed · pre existing · high confidence
- Salary range in recruitment Yes · preparation · high confidence
- Salary history questions banned Yes · preparation · high confidence
- Reporting threshold 50 · pre existing · high confidence
- First report, 250 or more employees Existing annual report: within 5 months of June snapshot; Directive dates pending · pre existing · high confidence
- First report, 100 to 149 employees Existing annual report: within 5 months of June snapshot; Directive dates pending · pre existing · high confidence
- Reporting model Pre-existing national reporting · pre existing · high confidence
- Info reference period No national rule identified · not identified · high confidence
- Info pay basis No national rule identified · not identified · high confidence
- Info pay components scope No national rule identified · not identified · high confidence
- Info request frequency No national rule identified · not identified · high confidence
- Info employee reference period eligibility No Directive Article 7-style individual-pay plus sex-average employee information right was identified in the live national regime reviewed. · pre existing · high confidence
- Info normalisation method No national rule identified · not identified · high confidence
- Reporting reference period Rolling period · in force · high confidence
- Reporting pay basis Actual remuneration paid / earned · in force · high confidence
- Reporting pay components scope Different / modified · in force · high confidence
- Reporting population basis Relevant employees are employees on the employer-selected June snapshot date, including part-time employees; remuneration is measured across the 12 months ending on that date. · in force · high confidence
- Reporting normalisation method Hourly remuneration combines ordinary pay and bonus pay over the 12-month period and divides by working hours, with specific fixed-hours, variable-hours and bonus-period adjustments. · in force · high confidence
- Employer required input data Twelve months of payroll, bonus periods, contractual/actual working hours, the June snapshot headcount, sex, employment status and benefits-in-kind incidence data. · in force · high confidence
- First data period needed Ongoing: rolling 12 months ending on the employer-selected June relevant date for each annual reporting cycle. · in force · high confidence
Change history
This page is maintained by Evenpay from official primary sources and reviewed before publication. It is general information, not legal advice. Requirements vary by member state and change as national laws progress; figures described as proposed are subject to amendment.
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