Ms Maeve McElwee:

If somebody is sick and really needs not to be at work then of course he or she should be on leave. When we talk about the costs for employers of replacing somebody, particularly for short periods of time, we are not talking about serious illness here, there are challenges. It depends on whether somebody can be moved from another area, or there may be a skills training issue. Generally there is some loss of productivity and cost to the business as a result. There is a management cost of moving people around, potentially a replacement cost or an agency cost if someone is brought in externally. There is also an administration cost of addressing and person-managing the salary, engaging with the agency, paying it and so on.