Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Statutory sick pay will be a reality. It has been delayed by 12 weeks. I had hoped and intended to introduce it in October. I conferred and worked with officials over the summer to see if we could do that, but we ran into many issues, not least the fact that many things that interact with it, such as illness benefit, are annualised. From 1 January, people can claim three days of sick leave from their employer. That is how it works in the first year. On the fourth day, illness benefit kicks in. Starting it mid-year just did not work for many reasons. I was disappointed when I had to come to that conclusion, accepting my officials' advice. I did not accept it initially, but they turned out to be right. I had to accept it in the end because it would not have been workable. There is a delay of 12 weeks, which I regret, but it is happening and is a significant step forward for workers' rights in Ireland.

We have not yet made a decision on the awareness campaign. We have talked about it, so we may well do it. The same thing applies to the legislation on tips. We are keen to ensure that employees, particularly more vulnerable employees who do not have English as a first language and do not follow our media, are aware of these rights, because they are the people who are most likely to be denied these rights. I am sure the trade unions will do something similar. We will confer with the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, unions and employers about that.