Galway Bay FM 10 March 2021 print Galway Bay fm newsroom – MEP for this region, Maria Walsh, has highlighted the ongoing gender inequality in the Irish workforce at the European Parliament. Addressing today’s session, Midlands North-West MEP Walsh said one of the very first benefits of Ireland joining the European Union in 1973 was the abolishment of a law restricting the employment of married women. However, she pointed out that almost 50 years later, significant gaps remain – with the pay gap at 14 percent and the pension gap at 30 percent. Fine Gael MEP Walsh was contributing to a debate on a newly released report entitled “European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2021”.