Women earn almost €3 less per hour than men according to figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today.
The hourly earnings figure for women was 84 per cent of that for men, with men earning €17.74 per hour and women earning €14.93 per hour.
However, the gender pay gap shortened in professional jobs with women earning 94.6 per cent (€25.57 per hour) of the amount earned by men ((€27.04 per hour).
The survey also found that the average working week was 33 hours, with men working an average of 36.2 hours and women 29.4 hours per week.
The gap between public and private sector workers was also highlighted in the survey.
In the public sector, workers earned an average of €21.04 per hour, which was 40 per cent above the average of €15.03 for the private sector.
Within the private sector, large enterprises paid about 50 per cent more per hour than small businesses. Companies employing 500 or more people paid an average of over €18 per hour, compared with about €13 per hour for those employing less than 50 people.
The figures also revealed that people with experience or qualifications had higher earnings.
Employees in their forties or fifties earned just over €19 per hour, compared with €10.44 for those under 25. Similarly, those with 20 years or more of work experience earned about €20 per hour; employees working for less than five years earned €10.86 per hour.
Graduates earned twice as much as early school leavers - €25.61 per hour for graduates compared with €12.61 per hour for those with primary or lower secondary education.
The figures are for March 2003 and come from a new workplace survey by the CSO called the National Employment Survey.
According to the CSO the survey provides more detailed comparisons than previously available of the factors that influence employees' earnings.
The survey will be conducted annually from this year to provide comparable results.
