Mr. John Church:

We were one of 24 countries that took part in this research, which was done by a London-based organisation called the Work Foundation. The research was desk-based and studied the same data in each country. The €750 million was grossed up based on the payment of illness benefit, the cost to the employer, lost productivity and the cost of having to redeploy or get locum or other cover for employees who were out sick. Of that sum, we have lately focused on illness benefit payment, which is a real source of data from the Department of Social Protection. They are real figures.