Leo Varadkar weighs in on the RTÉ gender dispute and pay gap

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After RTÉ responded to speculation that there is a major gender pay gap in the national broadcasting service, now Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has weighed in on the controversy.

On Monday, The Sunday Independent revealed that Sharon Ní Bheoláin earns €60,000 – €80,000 less than her male co-anchor Bryan Dobson.

"I believe that I am well remunerated, but, for the record, my pay is still considerably less than that of Bryan’s. I won’t be commenting further," she said at the time. 

And now, Mr Varadkar's senior spokesman told the Irish Independent: "The Taoiseach welcomes RTÉ's decision to conduct a review into pay in the organisation.

"He believes strongly that there should be equal pay for equal work and equal experience.

"The Tánaiste [Frances Fitzgerald], on behalf of the Government, is currently developing proposals which would require employers to conduct a survey of pay levels within their organisation, building on the recently published Women and Girls Strategy," he added.

According to the publication, the most up-to-date figures available from RTÉ shows the average salary to be just below €60,000, but the vast majority of managers and presenters are expected to be on more than this.

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