Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I probably will not need all that time. I thank Ms McElwee and Dr. Bambrick for their contributions and for their work on this matter. The draft legislation is important and welcome. As previous speakers said, it is about time we discussed it and tried to get it put in place.

To pick up on Ms McElwee's response to Senator Sherlock, I do not think anyone is trying to delay legislation coming through the Houses. This is about working together to make sure it is right. The intentions on both sides is to make sure this is done correctly. Ms McElwee expressed concerns about the draft legislation and ensuring it is right. She gave the example of a person who has two jobs who gets injured in one job and how would that would affect his or her other job. All the examples she gave would have happened in other countries when sick pay was introduced. How did they manage? Has IBEC researched how it has been managed in other countries in the context of the various concerns Ms McElwee raised? Are there good examples of how other countries managed in that regard?

This is a question for Dr. Bambrick and Ms McElwee regarding medical certificates. One of the main concerns about getting a doctor’s certificate is the cost for the employee. Almost 50% of people either have a medical card or a GP visit card. It would not be 50% because many retired people would have medical cards. Has any research been done on the percentage of employees who hold a medical card or a GP card? I know from my constituency office that many people who are entitled to a GP card are not aware of that. Perhaps we need to get that message out. It certainly protects the lowest paid. When we talk about the cost of paying a GP for a medical certificate in respect of sick pay being a significant barrier, I would be interested to know the percentage of employees who hold a GP card or a medical card. If it is 50%, which is the highest it would have ever been in the history of the State, common sense dictates that we have probably the highest percentage of employees who have ever held a medical card or a GP card. That goes some way to supporting employees. I would interested to hear our guests’ comments on that.