Cork closing the gender pay gap as County Council report shows near-equal average

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Men and women in Cork County Council are paid almost equally on average, with women earning more than men at the midpoint of the pay scale, the local authority’s 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report shows.

“The report illustrates that Cork County Council is an employer of choice with equal employment and advancement opportunities for all staff across the board,” the council said.

The report took a snapshot of the council’s over 2,500 workers on June 30 this year and found males were paid 0.28pc more than females on average.

However, the median gender pay gap found that females were paid 10.44pc more than males, indicating a strong presence by women in the middle and upper-middle salary bands.

The median is the figure that falls in the middle of a range where the salary of all relevant employees is listed, from the lowest to the highest, and can provide a more accurate representation of the typical differences in pay than the mean or average figure.

The council’s workforce on the day of the snapshot was 62pc male and 38pc female with the senior management team gender-balanced at 50:50 male/female. The report found that there were proportionately more males at lower-middle grades and a higher proportion of females in upper-middle grades.

The Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Moira Murrell, said the report provides "valuable insights into the composition of our workforce. We will continue to monitor the trends in the makeup of our workforce and use this data to guide further action to ensure Cork County Council remains an inclusive employer at all levels of the organisation."

The gender pay gap calculates the percentage difference between the average earnings of males and females irrespective of their role. Since 2021, organisations with over 50 employees are required to report their gender pay gap.

If an organisation reports a positive gender pay gap, it doesn’t mean that females are paid less than males for doing the same job, but it does show that, on average, males occupy better paid roles than females.