Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The savings indicated have been exactly the same on every occasion on which I have commented on this matter. As stated earlier, introducing a statutory sick pay scheme involves a series of very detailed steps and an in-depth examination must be carried out. Both the dialogue and the consultation process which have taken place indicate that all sick pay schemes generally take into account the needs of smaller firms. There is no doubt, and the OECD frequently reports this fact, that Ireland is probably the only country which does not have a statutory sick pay scheme.

I reiterate what I stated previously, namely, that except where companies, Departments or whatever have sick pay schemes in place, most employees, regardless of whether they work for small or large employers, pay for the first three days of their illness. There is no proposal to change that. The first three days of sick leave are not paid for by the employer, they are paid for by the individual. Following this initial period, an employee is obliged to obtain a medical certificate from his or her doctor to claim illness benefit. One of the issues some employers raised during the consultation - individuals dealing with occupational health issues were among the most prominent speakers - was the perception among employers, which I share, that there were serious issues about the way in which some medical practitioners issued sick notes. This emerged as a significant issue for employers during the consultation process. Having examined what employer groups such as Retail Ireland have stated about this issue, it is an important point. At the end of the day we want to have good sick pay schemes for persons who are ill, while reducing the overall level of absenteeism. I acknowledge that absenteeism is a significant problem in large parts of the public sector, although generally not among all employees but often among less than 25% where a pattern has been formed. This information gathering is part of the process of looking at this important issue.

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