A new employment survey has found that Irish workers earn more money than their non-Irish employees. Irish workers reported average hourly earnings of €19.86 an hour, while workers from the EU Accession States had the lowest rate at €11.52 an hour.
The CSO's National Employment Survey 2006 says that in the wholesale and retail sector Irish and non-Irish workers had similar hourly earnings, but in most other sectors foreign workers earned between 77% to 86% of Irish workers.
The survey also shows that in all employment sectors men earned more than women. It says the greatest differences were in the education and health sectors where women earned about 68% and 71% of men's average hourly earnings. The smallest difference was in the hotels and restaurants sector where women earned about 89% of men's hourly earnings.
The survey also reveals that workers earned an average of €19.47 per hour in March 2006. Men earned €20.59 an hour and women earned €18.22 an hour. The average working week was 34.8 hours. Men worked an average of 38.4 hours and women 30.9 hours a week.
The CSO says that average earnings per hour were highest in the education sector (€32.27 an hour), followed by the financial sector (€30.29) and the electricity, gas and water supply sector (€27.04).
The survey shows that public sector workers earned an average of €26.08 per hour, which was 49% above the average €7.48 for the private sector. Nearly half of public sector workers are in professional and technical professions, compared with about one in seven in the private sector.
Employees aged 40 and older had average hourly earnings of €22.71 and over. This compared with €11.98 for those under 25. Graduates earned twice as much as early school leavers.
Overall, average hourly earnings rose by 18.6% in the three years from March 2003 to March 2006. The average working week decreased slightly from 34.9 to 34.8, while the gender gap narrowed from 84.2% to 88.5% in the three year period.
