Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the guests and thank them for their time. This is an important Bill. Sick pay is really important in a general sense because there is much that can be done around sick pay. In relation to this Bill specifically, Covid-19 is already a reportable disease under the biological agents regulations. As the witnesses have said, there are a few different ways to report it. Covid-19 can be acquired in any setting and it cannot always be reliably associated with a work activity. In some cases, such as meat factories, it is clearly to do with the setting while in other settings it is not so clear. What is the story with the regulatory impact assessment initiated by the board of the HSA? I do not know where that sits at present When will it be completed and when can we look at it? It was on that basis of seeing what the outcome of that would be that they were going to wait and see about this Bill. On its completion, it will be considered by the board of the HSA and the next steps would be discussed with the Department. Do the witnesses know what is happening with that or have they answered that question already? A regulatory impact assessment initiated by the board of the HSA to assist in the consideration of a potential amendment requiring employers to report cases of Covid-19 that are attributable to work activity, to the HSA is ongoing. I wonder about its status..