Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage

Photo of Matt ShanahanMatt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, like other members I am sure, want to see a sick pay scheme implemented. The Minister of State pointed out that employers are paying for this, which is the truth of it. In some of the preamble to the Bill he tried to give credence to the difficulty out there and he mentioned the social partnership. I wish to raise two matters. One is something I asked before and raised in the Dáil on a number of occasions which is why Irish Small and Medium Employers, ISME, is not part of this leave Bill. I do not believe small businesses are being properly represented as part of the social partnership agenda.

Further, employers will be quite willing to look at expanded sick pay schemes but the problem is that they are paying for it. One of the things this Bill does not address is any support for small or micro-enterprises which may have to take on people to fill a role while an employee is sick, which happens quite a good deal in many industries.

On the last occasion I asked that the Minister of State might look at tabling an amendment to provide a tax rebate, or something like that, for this double whammy where a small business has to put up the resources for the scheme and then has to pay, possibly through an agency, to find support and help. These employers are getting no support for that. The larger employers, as we know, already have sick pay schemes in place because they can afford them. The problem here is that we are trying to legislate for everybody but, as the Minister of State rightly pointed out, this is going to have an effect on employers. We cannot have the idea of having unlimited sick days but we want to start with something fair.

This is where I would be coming from. I ask the Minister of State to consider tabling an amendment on some type of tax rebate scheme, which may be one of the easiest things to do, to take account of small and micro-enterprises which are going to be significantly impacted, particularly as this scheme is extended.

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