Mary Connaughton is director of CIPD in Ireland, the professional body for HR and people development, which advises its more than 6,000 members on EU and local regulations on people policies. She believes that overall Ireland’s status on EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) is improving – but there are some areas that lack progression.
“Some organisations are quite progressive, while others are dragging their heels,” says Connaughton. “There has been a lot of strong legislation delivered over the past 30 years across the breadth of inclusion policies but typically companies will focus on some of these areas and do not cover them all.”
Perhaps that’s not surprising, since there are nine separate grounds on which Irish law prohibits discrimination: gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, and membership of the Traveller community. When organisations are looking at their workforce, emphasis on selective inclusions make sense, Connaughton says.
She points out that in Ireland, some 75 per cent of the workforce identifies as Irish, meaning the rest are from elsewhere. “Sometimes the external rhetoric on the acceptance of foreign nationals can be negative but sectors that rely heavily on overseas workers are very focused on creating a strongly inclusive culture,” she says.
A big factor in driving EDI in Ireland has come from the EU, with gender equality at the top of the list. The Republic had already introduced legislation to force gender pay transparency but the EU is pursuing an even stricter agenda, covering parental leave and disability rights in the workplace.
“We are also seeing improvements in communications where organisations are ensuring their policies on areas as diverse as menopause ... and men’s health are communicated,” says Connaghton. “In a tight employment market every organisation needs to appeal to its core employees.”
The 30% Club
The 30% Club is a global campaign supported by chairs and CEOs of medium-to-large organisations committed to gender balance at the most senior levels in their organisation. It was established in Ireland in 2015 and now represents close to 700,000 employees.
In Ireland, membership comes from all employment sectors, says country executive Gillian Harford. Regarding progress and implementation of EDI policies, she says organisations in Ireland are performing well overall.
“In the best-case scenarios these policies are an integrated part of attracting, retaining and progressing a skilled workforce,” says Harford. “There has certainly been tremendous focus in the last five to 10 years, with a range of policies, over and above legislative requirements, now commonplace across every sector.”
Both Connaughton and Harford agree that the Republic is a progressive voice at EU level in terms of modern workplace legislation, with strong Irish Government initiatives including Balance for Better Business and the National Strategy for Women and Girls. However, Harford identifies the most significant influence as being a strong business commitment to driving progress and taking ownership of and ensuring accountability for growth in diversity of skills and representation.
“We see a really strong intent for policies to be real and with a good take-up,” she says. “In some cases, there is still progress to be made – parental leave is a good example, where many companies are now offering very progressive options for both parents but where take-up or perceived impact on careers dictates uptake.
“More and more organisations are now tracking take-up in a bid to ensure that their policies become more than just lip service.”
Harford points to the fact that in many organisations, cultures and work practices go back generations.
“Many of us work in systems designed by our grandfathers for our fathers. Therefore, challenges focus on changing behaviours, expectations and systems at the one time,” she says. “Also, companies don’t operate in a vacuum, and are an important voice in the ripple effect on society, where change also needs to happen in terms of attitudes to childcare, immigrant talent, the role of gender and the role of minority groups, and the need for greater inclusion.”
Jorge Cabrita is senior research manager in the working life unit at Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, and is responsible for managing and conducting research on working conditions and industry relations in the EU. The foundation’s mission is to inform policymakers with a view to improving living and working conditions in the union.
He references the European Gender Equality Index, which covers work, money, health, knowledge, time and power. Ireland fell two places in this index in 2023, when its position was slightly worse than in 2021.
“Two points driving this regression are the position of female lone parents who have a lower participation in the labour market than their European counterparts, and women spent 14 hours more than men in unpaid work, which is typically defined as domestic work or caring for dependents,” says Cabrita.
He also points to Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021, in which Ireland is also trailing. Gender segregation in the labour market covered in this research looks at the percentage of men and women working in gender-dominated sectors.
“We found that in Ireland only 35 per cent of men and women are working in mixed occupations, with 57 per cent of men working in male-dominated occupations and 53 per cent of women working in female-dominated occupations. It is clear that in Ireland the labour market is still highly segregated,” says Cabrita.
Other anomalies in the research include that 72 per cent of male workers reporting to a male boss and only 54 per cent to a female boss.
“Ireland actually does slightly better than European averages but it is still a representation of the existence of a glass ceiling,” says Cabrita.
To encourage real implementation of EDI policies, Connaughton advices companies to make it personal.
“You need to practice what you preach or people will leave very quickly. Companies need to listen to different views, instil education and revoke unconscious bias. What really works is when people come together and discover in person what it means to be different. People educate people,” she says.