Bank of Ireland Publishes Second Annual Gender Pay Gap Report

• Bank of Ireland proactively reports a Gender Pay Gap of 23.8% – an improvement of 0.4% over the last year
• On track to achieve 50:50 Gender Balance Target for senior appointments
• Progressive measures introduced in areas of recruitment and flexible working

Bank of Ireland has today published its second annual Gender Pay Gap Report, highlighting the percentage difference between what men and women are paid on average in the organisation, irrespective of roles or levels.

The 2021 report reveals a Gender Pay Gap of 23.8%, a 0.4% improvement from last year when Bank of Ireland became the first Irish bank to publish this data. The current disparity reflects the fact that women are underrepresented at senior levels of the business, and over-represented at more junior grades.

There is no formal legislation yet enacted to require Irish employers to publish this information, but Bank of Ireland is voluntarily publishing its own position to encourage more action on this important topic and to support the development of an open, inclusive and transparent working environment for all colleagues within the Bank.

Bank of Ireland also remains focussed on its Gender Balance Target of having a 50:50 gender balance in senior management appointments in 2021, with 41% of senior appointments last year being female, improving in the second half of 2020 to 47% of appointments.

Over the course of 2020, the Bank has also introduced enhanced flexible ways of working for all colleagues, as well as implementing career development and leadership programmes for female talent to thrive and increase representation in senior management roles.

Commenting following the publication of the report, Matt Elliott, Chief People Officer at Bank of Ireland said: “Bank of Ireland took the decision in 2020 not to wait for legislation on this issue and published its first Gender Pay Gap Report proactively. Now a year on we are publishing an updated report to chart our progress in this important matter.

”Gender pay disparity within Bank of Ireland has decreased slightly over the past 12 months – however, we know we still have a lot of work to do in this area. As an organisation we are working hard to improve gender balance, rolling out tailored initiatives and introducing reporting controls that allows us to measure clear progress.

“We need to continue doing the right things to close the gender pay gap, such as maintaining our focus on attracting and developing female talent. And, we need to ensure that our commitment to Inclusion and Diversity is a part of every Bank of Ireland employees working experience. This won’t happen overnight but we have made our position in this area very clear, and can look forward to further progress being made in the years to come.”