Moira Grassick explores the implications of the new gender pay gap reporting portal set to launch in Autumn 2025
Norma Foley, Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, has announced that a gender pay gap reporting portal will be launched in Autumn 2025.
This is a significant update for Irish businesses, as the Department estimates that about 6,000 companies will need to submit a gender pay gap report to the online portal this year.
Foley also indicated that the reporting deadline is expected in November.
Gender pay gap reporting to date
The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 requires businesses to publish a report detailing the hourly gender pay gap in their business, across a range of specified metrics.
The Act is part of a wider initiative to improve gender equality in Ireland and, more specifically, aims to bring about greater pay parity between men and women.
Initially, when the requirement was introduced in 2022, only companies with 250 employees or more were required to submit a gender pay gap report. This threshold has been increasing gradually each year and, in 2025, any company with 50 employees or more will be required to file a report.
The portal: what you need to know
Up until this point, companies have been required to post their gender pay gap reports either on their own website or somewhere else accessible to the public.
As well as submitting statistics and figures on gender-based pay information within the business, employers have also been required to publish an explanation for any gender pay gap that does arise from those findings.
With the introduction of the new portal, this system will change.
Once launched, employers will be required to upload their pay gap reports directly to the portal, and not just on their own website.
New reporting deadline
As well as announcing the upcoming launch of the portal, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality also suggested that the reporting deadline this year will take place in November, and not in December as was the case in previous years.
Employers will be required to gather their gender pay gap data on a ‘snapshot’ date in June, and to publish those results in November.
The exact reporting date will depend on the snapshot date selected by the employer.
For example, if a business chooses 5 June as their snapshot date, they will be required to publish the results on the portal by 5 November.
Transparency and accountability
If your business employs 50 or more staff and you need to file a gender pay gap report in November, it's essential to understand the required publishing method. Once launched, you must submit your report directly through the online portal.
The portal's design could enhance public access to gender pay gap reports compared to before. Individuals will be able to search all gender pay gap reports on one platform, facilitating easier comparison of multiple reports simultaneously and enabling clearer conclusions and comparisons.
Moira Grassick is Chief Operating Officer at Peninsula