Women paid 4pc less than men at Central Bank, report reveals

The Central Bank has published its gender pay gap report for 2023, one of the first State bodies to do so. Photo: Getty

Sarah Collins

Men at the Central Bank of Ireland are still paid more than women, on average, but the gap has fallen since last year.

For every €1 a man earns at the bank, a woman earns around €0.96, according to its 2023 gender pay gap report. That amounts to a “pay gap” of 3.9pc.

That is down from a gap of 4.9pc last year, the first year that all organisations with more than 250 staff were legally obliged to report.

The median pay gap at the bank – which measures the mid-point between the highest and lowest salaries and can even out a few very highly paid people at the top – was 0.5pc this year.

A pay gap is not an indication of pay discrimination, which is illegal. It measures average hourly salaries for men and women throughout the organisation and compares the difference.

However, the figures can indicate if there are more highly paid people from one gender in the senior ranks of the organisation.

The Central Bank said in its report that “gender representation at higher levels is the key driver of our gender pay gap”.

There is a fairly even balance of men and women employed at the bank. This year 49pc of its staff were women, while 51pc were men, stable compared with 2022.

Women make up 52pc of the lowest earners at the bank and 46pc of the highest earners.

The bank has 43pc women on its senior leadership team, with the majority of women holding roles as bank officers or bank executives. The lowest proportion of women (19pc) and largest proportion of men (81pc) is in the lowest-paid technical and general roles.

The pay gap is higher for part-time workers, at 15.8pc in favour of men (12.3pc in median terms).

The Central Bank has been reporting on its gender pay gap since 2018, when it was 2.7pc, meaning it has risen in the last five years.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) data published today shows that men represented more than 70pc of top earners across the economy last year.

Males represented the majority of all employments in eight economic sectors, and a minimum 65pc of those in the top 1pc of earners in every economic sector.

The median annual earnings in Ireland in 2022 were €41,824.

Median annual earnings for males were €45,537, 20.5pc higher than those for females (€37,782), the CSO said.

Males aged between 40 and 59 earned the most compared with other males. For women, annual earnings peak between the ages of 30 and 39.

Irish firms with more than 250 staff will be publishing their gender pay gap reports throughout the month of December.