The Gender Pay Gap Information Bill has been presented to the Dáil, where it now awaits second stage.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan, launching the bill alongside minister of state David Stanton, said it would “provide transparency on the gender pay gap”.

He added: “I believe firms which can report a low or non-existent pay gap will be at an advantage in recruiting future employees and I hope mandatory reporting will incentivise employers to take measures to address the issue insofar as they can.

“Measures such as those included in the Bill have been taken in a number of other countries and, indeed, EU member states were encouraged to take such measures in an EU Commission Recommendation of 2014.”

Under the bill, the minister will make regulations obliging employers to publish information relating to their gender pay gap.

The provision will apply initially in firms of 250 or more employees, with the threshold reducing to 50 when the legislation is fully operational.

The requirement will apply in the private and public sectors and the bill also provides that employers must set out the measures, if any, they are taking to eliminate or reduce any pay gap.

The detailed information that must be published annually under the ministerial regulations includes the mean and median gap in hourly pay between men and women; the mean and median gap in bonus pay between men and women; the mean and median gap in hourly pay of part-time male and female employees; the percentage of men and of women who received bonus pay; and the percentage of men and of women who received benefits in kind.

The regulations may also require the publication of information on employees on temporary contracts, the percentage of employees in each of the four pay quartiles who are men and who are women and the publication of information by reference to job classifications.