Dr. Laura Bambrick:

It has been mentioned that statutory sick pay is common practice across the EU 27. Because Ireland is a late mover here, we can see the design methods various countries have. They address the inability of small businesses, microbusinesses and businesses in sectors that have higher than average rates of sickness to pay. The way they do this is twofold. First, there is a government-provided fund. That is for businesses in respect of which a genuine inability to pay has been established. The second way, to which Mr. McDonnell referred, is a form of insurance whereby if a business feels that its statutory obligation to provide sick pay to its workforce will place a burden on it, it can take out a form of insurance which will assist it in meeting its obligation. As I said, Ireland is really unusual in not having statutory sick pay. One of the benefits of being a late mover in adopting this method is that we can see the types of schemes and the design features others have put in place and how they have worked successfully. There is nothing that we see or that we have talked about today that other countries have not faced and been able to deal with successfully.