Minister obliges employers to report gender pay gap data from November

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality has used the powers conferred on her by section 20A of the Employment Equality Act 1998 to amend the gender pay gap reporting regulations, obliging employers to report their gender pay gap information to the Minister. The amendment takes effect from 1 November 2026 and is carried by the Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, published as S.I. No. 548 of 2026 in Iris Oifigiúil No. 88 of 3 November 2026.

The instrument operates on the Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2022, the framework attached to the reporting duty created by section 20A of the 1998 Act. In the notice as published, the Minister “appoint[s] the 1st day of November 2026 as the day on which” those 2022 Regulations “are amended, to obligate employers to report their gender pay gap information to the Minister”.

The duty is drawn in general terms: the amended text speaks of “employers” within the scope of section 20A and attaches no further threshold or category to the reporting obligation in the published notice. The appointed day of 1 November 2026 falls two days before the issue carrying the instrument, so the amendment was already operative when Iris Oifigiúil No. 88 went to press.

What changes for employers

The operative change is the destination of the information. Where the 2022 Regulations are amended, employers are to report their gender pay gap information to the Minister — the reporting route is now stated expressly in the amended text rather than left to the principal regulations alone.

Because the amendment is made by reference to section 20A of the Employment Equality Act 1998, its reach follows the reach of that section: every employer covered by section 20A is affected. The instrument itself adds no sectoral exemption, size threshold or transitional period in the text as published.

Enabling powers and ministerial competence

The recital of the instrument sets out the chain of authority under which the Minister acted:

• Section 20A of the Employment Equality Act 1998 (No. 21 of 1998), the substantive power to make regulations on gender pay gap information.
• The Disability, Equality, Human Rights, Integration and Reception (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2020 (S.I. No. 436 of 2020), which transferred the relevant administration and ministerial functions.
• The Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2025 (S.I. No. 180 of 2025), which adapted that transfer order.

The instrument records that the Minister made the regulations “in exercise of the powers conferred on her” by section 20A and by that transfer order as adapted — the basis on which the equality portfolio signs the reporting rules.

Citation, commencement and availability

• Citation: Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
• Commencement: 1 November 2026.
• Publication: Iris Oifigiúil, Number 88, 3 November 2026, page [G-2]; price €3.00.
• Copies: Government Publications, Mountshannon Road, Kilmainham, Dublin, D08 XA06; telephone 046 942 3100; publications@opw.ie.
• Companion instruments in the same issue: S.I. No. 549 of 2026 (Rules of the Superior Courts (Probate) 2026), S.I. No. 550 of 2026 (commencement order for the Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Act 2026) and S.I. No. 551 of 2026 (Forestry Appeals Committee rules).

For employers covered by section 20A, the practical consequence is a reporting duty that now runs explicitly to the Minister from the start of this month, with the amended text in force from a date earlier than its publication. Compliance calendars, internal data collection and the sign-off of reported figures should be checked against the amended 2022 Regulations as they now stand.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 88 of 2026, 3 November 2026, section I, p. [G-2] (official reference: S.I. No. 548 of 2026).