The Coombe Hospital Gender Pay Gap Report 2025
Prepared December 2024
Message from the Master | CEO of the Coombe Hospital
Professor Michael O'Connell | Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist
As we employ more than 250 employees we are reporting in line with the requirements of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021.
For nearly 200 years, we have been providing services and support to women and newborns in our local community and across the island of Ireland. Putting their needs at the heart of everything we do.
We are committed to supporting a fair and equal workplace for all our staff which is demonstrated in our gender pay report.
The Coombe Hospital employs more than 250 employees.
Why are we reporting on the Gender Pay Gap?
The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 was signed into law in Ireland in 2021 and requires all organisations with 250 or more employees (from 2022) to publish their gender pay gap information on an annual basis, this is the Coombe’s third annual gender pay gap report, taken from a snapshot in June of 2024.
What is the gender pay gap?
The gender pay gap is the difference on average across a population between men’s and women’s pay. The gender pay gap is usually represented as the average difference in gross hourly earnings of men and of women, expressed as a percentage of men's average gross hourly earnings. A gender pay gap which is positive indicates that, on average across the employed population, women are in a less favourable position than men. Where the gender pay gap is negative, this indicates the reverse - that, on average, men are in a less favourable position than women.
It compares the pay of all working men and women; not just those in similar jobs, with similar working pattern or with similar competencies, qualifications or experience We are required to report on 7 key areas and the two key measures are
• The mean pay gap - which is calculated by finding the percentage difference between the average hourly rate of men and women within the organisation.
• The median pay gap – which is calculated by finding the midpoint percentage difference between the median hourly rate of men and women within the organisation
Our Gender Pay Gap explained:
As you will see the majority of our staff in each of the percentile are predominately female, which is the norm within the Health services and within a Hospital in particular. The figures also show that the average hourly rate is slightly higher for men but the median hourly rate is higher for women in the organisation.
Total Headcount 1120 Staff (See full stats in the table below)
Female 85%
Male 15%
Mean Gender Pay Gap: 24.32%
Median Gender Pay Gap: 2.06%
How are we going to address our Gender Pay Gap?
There is a higher proportion of female to male staffing due to the larger category of staff being midwives and nurses. The proportion of males working in the Hospital has decreased very slightly (i.e. 15.37% in 2023 to 15% in 2024, a 2.44% decrease). However, the Hospital will continue to work on increasing the number of males across this and other categories of staffing within the Hospital to achieve greater gender balance.
Recruitment: continuing to ensure job advertisements are equal towards both male and female applicants.
Training & Development: continuing to ensure open access for all staff to our internal training sessions and external courses to help all staff with their career develop and opportunity to progress.
Career Progression: continuing to ensure that all staff are equally encouraged to progress and ensuring no barriers are in place, this includes the development of our flexible working and hybrid working policies.
