Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not understand that particular issues would arise. Although I do not know the details of the case or the particular illnesses of the person the Deputy describes but somebody encompassed by the critical illness process has access to 12 months of paid leave on exactly the same basis as on the previous scheme, that is, 364 days of fully paid leave in a rolling year followed by six months, 182 days, on half pay.

I do not know how long somebody might be ill but the notion that someone would be out for more than a year and a half in a four year period and expect to be fully paid does not fit international norms. There is an understanding that if one is ill one cannot work and in a normal employment, in the private sector, one is supported as long as possible but there is an understanding but there is a limit to the time when somebody is out on full pay.

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