Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of this Bill. Its timely passing by the House would take immense stress and strain off many working families, in particular working parents who are raising children on their own. For workers and families, the past six months have been difficult. The difficulties did not suddenly arise when schools returned. When the first State-wide restrictions were introduced, I was contacted by a number of parents, mothers in particular, who had children with lifelong illnesses. They were put in a position of being forced to choose between staying at home with their children and limiting their contacts. Many used their annual leave at that stage. They had to choose between staying at home and looking after their children or going to work.

In many ways, all parents across the State are now on call. If a parent gets a phone call from a school because his or her child becomes ill or shows symptoms of Covid at school, that parent has to drop everything, walk out the door of his or her job and go to collect his or her child. I am unsure as to how many jobs there are where parents would be in a position to do that.

We know of the prevalence of low-paid employment in the State. According to figures from Social Justice Ireland, there are more than 100,000 people at work but living in poverty. Last year, nearly €400 million was spent by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection on the working family payment. That payment essentially tops up poor wages for workers with children. While the payment is necessary, it signals that none of these parents can afford to take unpaid leave if his or her child becomes sick. Deprivation levels have increased in the past year, which we know from a Central Statistics Office, CSO, report published this month. Nearly half of lone parent families are living in deprivation and more than one in five children experiences deprivation. If someone is living in deprivation and is in work, he or she will not be able to afford to take time off unpaid.

There have been issues with the illness benefit for some time: it is dependent on PRSI contributions; the self-employed have no access to illness benefit or, indeed, any short-term sick pay; previous cost-cutting measures increased the waiting days from three to six, which made the situation even more difficult; and it is costly for anyone to take illness benefit, given that every time someone attends a doctor for the form, he or she must pay upwards of €30 or €35.

In the short time the Government has been in office, it has failed parents in failing to extend maternity leave. I note how in the Tánaiste's letter in today's The Irish Times, he mentioned that enhanced maternity benefit was coming down the road. We would all like to know what that is. Instead of extending maternity leave, the Government extended unpaid parental leave. That eliminates many parents who cannot afford to take such leave.

While Covid has created difficulties for many workers and families in 2020, it has also taught this Government two immediate lessons: the waiting days for illness benefit are inappropriate and inadequate; and the payment of €203 is inadequate. The enhanced illness benefit was introduced for this reason and no other. The Bill presents an opportunity to do the right thing by workers and families. No worker can wait six months for that.

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