Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State needs to look at the burden in this. While an element of paid sick leave is welcome and a statutory sick pay scheme is long overdue, and we have discussed this, it cannot exclude people because they are on low incomes. They will have to put their hands in their pockets to go to the doctor. I tabled an amendment that would have eliminated this until such time as we have free and universal access to GP care. We do not have this, and we are a good bit away from it. I respect that it is an ambition of the Government but we are a good bit away from it. Not only will low income workers get 70% of a very low income, they will also have to pay out a higher proportion of that income to be able to access the sick leave scheme. I am conscious of anything that will act as a barrier for those workers on low incomes.

I am sure the intention is that this will have equal application for all workers. In practice there are barriers and the burden is too high. People will get a reduction in their wages when they are already on low incomes because they had to take some time off sick. They will also have to pay to go to see the doctor. There is time between now and Report Stage to reflect on this. I ask the Minister of State to reflect on the impact on workers on low incomes. How likely are they to avail of it if there are a number of barriers in their way? There is also the return they would get during the time spent off work. We have to add to this the cost of going to the doctor. The Minister of State knows that things are tight for people on low incomes and that every shilling is accounted for. We cannot have a situation where a worker says he or she cannot afford to be sick. The intention of this is that a worker who is sick has a safety net. It is low income workers who are facing this. We have heard the phrase "the double whammy". We have all received correspondence on it. This is a doubled whammy for a low-income worker.