Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following:

“Dáil Éireann:

— acknowledges the exceptional challenges faced by employees during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of a statutory sick pay regime in Ireland;

— welcomes the introduction of the Covid-19 enhanced illness benefit which provides income support to any employee with Covid-19 symptoms or required to self- isolate and also the recent introduction of a new social insurance-based paid parental benefit scheme and extended parental leave rights; and

— and resolves that the Sick Leave and Parental Leave (Covid-19) Bill 2020 be deemed to be read a second time this day six months, to allow for consultation between now and then by the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, with unions and employers, which will allow for: — consideration of reforms and improvements to Ireland’s statutory sick pay laws and any related change to illness benefit which is funded through Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions as referred to in the Programme for Government;

— research into the extent and exact nature of the problems identified by this Bill, including a full evaluation of the costs the Bill as drafted would place on employers, particularly small and medium sized enterprises that have been severely hit by Covid-19; and

— full discussion and exploration of other practical issues and that may arise, such as increased business costs and business viability, as a result of the proposals and to consider other options for change which might be available, and which would not make it more difficult for employers to remain viable.”

I acknowledge the work of the Labour Party in brining forward this Bill and welcome the opportunity to speak on it. The Government has put in place a broad range of measures, which are specifically designed to support people in this time of crisis whether because they have lost their jobs or they are sick.

On sickness, we have put in place a special arrangement for an enhanced Covid-19 rate of illness benefit of €350. Payment is made where an employee or self-employed person is diagnosed with Covid or is a probable source of infection. Significantly, payment is made from the first day of illness so there are no waiting days. Payment is for two weeks for a person who is a probably risk of infection and up to ten weeks for those diagnosed with Covid-19. The Government has extended the enhanced Covid illness benefit payment of €350 per week until the end of March 2021. It is important that employees and the self-employed comply with public health advice to self-isolate where appropriate while having their income protected to the greatest extent possible. This is essential to limit and slow down the spread of the virus. My Department will spend an estimated €599 million on illness benefit payments alone in 2020.

The background to a scheme of statutory sick pay revolves around two key issues, namely cost to employers and improvements to the working conditions of employees. In Ireland, sick leave forms part of the terms and conditions of employment contracts, offered voluntarily by employers to their employees, taking into account the financial and other resources of the business. The proposal in the Bill is to move away from the voluntary nature of sick pay and to instead make it a compulsory part of the terms and conditions of all employment contracts. In discussing statutory sick pay, I am conscious of the need to balance the positive aspects of statutory sick pay against the pressures being faced by employers, particularly small businesses, as a result of Covid-19. While I acknowledge the Bill is well intentioned, we need to be conscious of the impact of the proposals for employers at a time many of them are struggling. It is important to point out that proposals for statutory sick pay were discussed extensively in the past. In 2012, the then Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Joan Burton of the Labour Party, examined this issue in some detail but did not proceed. I understand there was substantial consultation with employer representative bodies, sectoral bodies and trade unions at the time by the Minister on how a statutory sick pay scheme might work. In fairness, 2012 was in the midst of a recession and was also a very difficult time for businesses. Ultimately, because of the concerns expressed in terms of the potential impact on businesses at a time they were struggling, it was decided not to proceed with the proposal for statutory sick pay.Its ironic that we are now talking about statutory sick pay again today at a time businesses are again facing huge challenges.

This is not a simple matter and the fact that it crosses over a number of Departments demonstrates that. There is no doubt that the idea of statutory sick pay is worthy of examination, but it is also one that raises very significant economic and administrative challenges. Under the Bill, the rate of sick pay is proposed to be the same as the employee’s earnings for a full six weeks. In the past when this was discussed, a period of two weeks had been mentioned and the cost of that would be more manageable from a small business perspective.

There are issues that would need to be addressed before the Government could make a decision on whether to introduce a scheme of statutory sick pay such as the duration of payment, the rate of payment, how those who would not qualify for statutory sick pay would be dealt with, and how such a scheme would be enforced and monitored.

As eight years have passed since statutory sick pay was last analysed, the idea certainly merits detailed reconsideration. This would involve consultation across several Departments, as well as the social partners, and it requires informed financial estimates to measure its viability. For that reason, the Government proposes that the Bill be deferred for six months to allow the necessary time for full discussion and examination of all of these issues.

If anyone reads the Tánaiste's contribution in The Irish Timestoday, it is very clear that the Government does want to act on this but, in doing so, we need to be cognisant of the impact on small businesses. Given the significant challenges facing SMEs, it would be wrong to impose this on them overnight without meaningful consultation. We will now commence engagement with employers and unions and come back to this House when all of the issues have been considered in full. I look forward to working with Deputies on this. In the meantime, the Government will continue to provide support through the enhanced Covid illness benefit of €350 per week.

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