Alliance South Belfast Councillor Tara Brooks, who brought the motion to Belfast City Council, said: "Currently, there is no legal obligation to record and report gender pay gap data in Northern Ireland. We believe that this council should lead the way here by adopting robust, transparent and accountable methods for recording and reporting on the gender pay gap.
 
"According to the TUC, in 2023, the average woman employed full-time in the UK will work for almost two months free each year compared to the average man who is employed.
 
"Alliance is committed to tackling the gender pay gap, it's completely unacceptable that women in 2023, still receive less pay than men and we hope that new measures will shine a light on it and will encourage other organisations to follow suit."