The pay gap between Irish men and women is lower than that of Sweden, which is often held 
up as a model of good practice in this area, and slightly lower than the average for the EU-27.
The data is contained in the Women and Men in Ireland report for 2010.
The pay gap in Ireland in 2008, was 17.1 percent. The equivalent Swedish figure is slightly higher than this at 17.4 percent whereas the average for the 27 members of the EU is 17.6 percent.
Italy has the lowest pay gap at 4.9 percent and Estonia the highest at 30.9 percent.
The report shows that in 2009 the number of Irish women in employment aged 15-64 is 57.8 percent against 67.3 percent of men. The Swedish figure is 70.2 percent for women and 74.2 percent for men.
The EU-27 figures average at 58.6 percent for women and 70.7 percent for men.
The report also shows that many women drop out of employment when they have children. Of women aged 20-44, 86.3 percent who have no children are in employment, versus 56 percent of those whose youngest children is under four, 48 percent whose young children is four to five, and 60 percent of those whose youngest child is six or over.
The EU decided at a meeting of the European Council in Barcelona in 2002 that as part of a ten year plan, at least 90 percent of children aged between three and school-age should be in day-care. On this basis, Ireland is far behind its target.
The meeting also stipulated that at least a third of children under three should be in day-care.
The report confirms that far more women than men are in part-time work. This year, 34,600 men worked less than 20 hours per week compared with 123,500 women.
A total of 380,700 men worked 40 hours or more per week compared with 131,700 women.
The percentage of married men working full-time in 2010 is 41 percent and the equivalent figure for married women is 12.9 percent.
The figures for the number of men and women in full-time employment have dropped because of the recession.
The CSO also found that when the gender pay gap is adjusted for the number of women in part-time jobs it drops to just 10 percent.
The gender pay gap is also a result of the fact that fewer women than men wish to rise to the top of the career ladder and also that they are more likely to be found in the less-well paid ‘caring’ occupations.
Italy has the lowest pay gap even though it has the lowest rate of female employment. According to Dr Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics, this is because the women who work are more likely to be highly motivated, career-orientated and therefore are more likely to be earning the same as men.
However, as the percentage of women in the work-place rises, the number of women who choose part-time jobs, or caring-type jobs also rises and this increases the pay-gap.