This makes Iceland the first country in the world to introduce this kind of law. Under the new rules companies will have to obtain a government certification if they employ over 25 people proving their equal pay credentials and those who fail to meet pay parity requirements will face substantial fines.

Speaking with Al Jazeera, Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, board member of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association said

"The legislation is basically a mechanism that companies and organisations...evaluate every job that's being done, and then they get a certification after they confirm the process if they are paying men and women equally. It's a mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally"

Iceland currently holds the title of the worlds most gender equal country as ranked by the World Economic Forum and has done so for the past 9 years.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, the gender pay gap has increased by 2% in the last quarter of 2017, with Irish women being paid at least 14% less than their male counterparts despite the fact that more women (55%) aged between 24-35 hold a third level qualification compared to males (43%) in the same age group.