The FAI and IRFU should follow the lead of England and Brazil by committing to paying women's international teams equally, according to Labour Spokesperson on Sport, Senator Mark Wall.
Mr Wall's comments come after Brazil announced they will become one of the few nations to pay their women's and men's football teams equally.
Brazil joined Australia, Norway and New Zealand on the list of football associations who had publicly committed to paying their men and women players the same amount for earning a senior cap.
The English Football Association subsequently revealed England men’s and women’s senior players have been paid the same match fee for representing their country since January 2020.
Mr Wall has now called on the FAI and IRFU to make a similar commitment.
“This is a very welcome move on behalf of the Brazilian FA and I would strong encourage both the FAI and the IRFU here to follow suit and ensure that female players are paid the same as their male counterparts. It also encouraging that the English FA have announced that they have followed suit and that England’s men’s and women’s international teams have been receiving equal pay since January," he said.
Ireland has made big strides in tackling gender inequality elsewhere but more work needs to be done.
Mr Wall added: “Female sports players need to have the same incentives and supports as their male counterparts and should not feel disenfranchised on account of their gender. How can you expect a woman footballer to train and play as hard as her male counterpart, when in some cases she will only be paid less than half the salary of her male counterpart? There is a significant income disparity between male and female football players and this needs to be addressed.
"Ireland has made big strides in tackling gender inequality elsewhere but more work needs to be done in relation to tackling the gender pay gap and sport should lead by example with this one action that will go somewhat towards closing the gap and will put Ireland on a growing list of countries to pay female sports players equally."
