Male staff at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) earned an average of 8.05% more per hour than their female colleagues, according to a new report.
The new statistics published by the department are based on data of people employed by DAFM in the period from June 23, 2023 to June 21, 2024.
A similar report published last year, covering the period from from June 24, 2022 to June 23, 2023 showed that the gender pay gap in the department was 9.7%, up from 9.5% in the previous year.
In 2013 the gender pay gap in the department was 20.5% and this figure has moved in a general downwards trajectory since then to now stand at 8.05%, which is 1.65% lower than 2023.
The department said this is due to more women being appointed to senior management positions within the organisation.
DAFM
The report shows that the department employed a total of 3,991 people between June 23, 2023 and June 21, 2024.
Of that total, there were 2,038 (51%) men employed by DAFM, with 1,953 women (49%).
The report shows that 3,514 employees were fulltime, 477 were part-time and 53 were employed on a temporary basis.
The department noted that the gender gap in median hourly remuneration is 11.2%, which it said reflects the fact that a higher proportion of the staff at more senior levels of the department are men.
The lowest pay band comprises 51.65% male and 48.35% female which is “broadly in line with the overall gender representation levels of the workforce”.
The lower middle pay band comprises 40.3% male and 59.7% female, while the upper middle remuneration quartile pay band is 54% male and 46% female.
The highest pay band comprises 58.3% male and 41.7% female which shows that there is still a greater proportion of men at more senior levels within the department.
The department’s competitions and recruitment section oversees around 70 competitions each year.
A review of competition applicants in this twelve-month reporting period shows that 46.9% of applicants are men, 51.4% are women and 1.7% have not specified gender.
The department established the Gender Equality Steering Group (GESG) in April 2023 which has now met 10 times.
This group, which replaced the previous Gender Balance Steering Group, works to understand and further progress actions to improve gender equality in the department.
Arising from the National Dialogue on Women in Agriculture in February 2023, a report and action plan was formally launched in January 2024.
The Women in Agriculture Working Group was established to facilitate and guide the implementation of the action plan.
The group is expected to present a progress report to the minister for agriculture and to the Food Vision 2030 High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC) in the first quarter (Q1) of this year.