Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is committed to introducing a statutory sick pay scheme and work is well advanced. We have held a public consultation that received 118 submissions and have had regular consultation with the social partners on it. An interdepartmental group on sick pay was established and an international review of best practice was completed. Legislation is being prepared and will be brought to the Government for approval shortly - hopefully this month.

In introducing this legislation we will be adding to the range of reforms the Government has introduced in recent years to improve social protections, terms and conditions for workers including seven increases in the minimum wage, the introduction of paternity benefit, parental leave benefit, enhanced maternity benefit, a national minimum wage which is now the sixth highest in the developed world and restrictions on zero-hour contracts. Other recent reforms include the extension of social insurance benefits to the self-employed, such as treatment benefit, invalidity pension, jobseeker's benefit and a contributory State pension with no means test.

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