10/11/2026

The Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Act 2026 recently completed its legislative journey through the Oireachtas and was signed into law by the President on 24 October 2026.

The Act amended section 20A of the Employment Equality Act 1998 to permit regulations requiring employers both to publish their gender pay gap information and report it to the Minister.

The implementing Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 548 of 2026) came into operation on 1 November 2026. They expressly provide that a relevant employer must report the required information to the Minister via the specified website, defined as the Gender Pay Gap Portal.

Background to the legislation

The legislation deals with two separate areas. From an employment law perspective, it amends the Employment Equality Act 1998 to provide a statutory basis for requiring employers within the scope of gender pay gap reporting to submit prescribed information directly to the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality through the central Gender Pay Gap Portal.

For employers, the relevant provisions are those concerning gender pay gap reporting. Importantly, the legislation does not introduce gender pay gap reporting for the first time. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 already established the reporting framework, with the reporting obligation subsequently extended on a phased basis. Employers with 50 or more employees are currently within scope.

The position before the new legislation

Under the existing framework, in-scope employers are required each year to calculate and publish prescribed gender pay gap information. This includes the relevant pay gap metrics together with a statement explaining the reasons for the employer’s gender pay gap and the measures being taken to reduce or eliminate it.

The statutory obligation has, however, essentially been one of public disclosure. Employers have been required to publish their report on their website or otherwise make it publicly accessible. There was no statutory requirement to submit the information to a central State database.

A central Gender Pay Gap Portal was launched in 2025, but reporting through the Portal was initially voluntary. The intention behind the centralised system is to make gender pay gap information easier for employees, researchers and the public to access and to allow comparisons across employers, sectors and reporting years.

What changes under the new legislation?

The Act provides the legal basis for regulations requiring relevant employers to report their gender pay gap information directly to the Minister through the Gender Pay Gap Portal, in the form, manner and frequency prescribed.

The central point for employers is therefore the distinction between mandatory public disclosure under the previous regime and mandatory central submission under the new regime. The underlying requirement to calculate and report gender pay gap information is not new; the significant change is the way in which that information must be submitted to the State.

The Department’s current guidance for 2026 indicates that employers with over 50 employees must both:

• report through the Gender Pay Gap Portal; and
• continue to publish their report on their own website, or otherwise make it publicly accessible, by the end of November 2026.

Failure to report and enforcement

Employers should note that a failure to comply with the gender pay gap reporting requirements can be pursued through the existing enforcement framework under the Employment Equality Acts. An employee who claims that their employer has failed to comply may make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission, which can order the employer to take specified action to comply. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission may also apply to the Circuit Court or High Court for an enforcement order requiring compliance.

The legislation does not introduce a fixed financial penalty simply for failing to upload a report to the Portal. The immediate risk is therefore an enforcement order requiring the employer to remedy the non-compliance, together with the associated legal, administrative and reputational consequences. Members should ensure that they comply with both elements of the reporting obligation — submission through the Portal and continued public publication — within the applicable reporting deadline.

Members who are within scope of the existing pay gap reporting requirements must ensure that they now report their gender pay gap data through the online portal as well as through their own reporting mechanisms.