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

No matter what we do, the Deputy is going to say it is not enough. He has written the press release already before he has seen what we intend to do. That is his role in politics but it is not a particularly constructive one. My role in politics is actually to get things done. I refer to things like the seven increases in the minimum wage and the restoration of public sector pay. We are moving towards a living wage. We have added any number of additional social benefits in recent years, from paternity benefit to parental leave and others. The next thing I am doing to enhance workers' rights in this country is the introduction of a statutory sick pay scheme. About half of the people in the country have it and the other half do not. That is wrong. Most people in the private sector do not and that is wrong. I am going to change it. I am going to get the balance right because we need to bear in mind that hundreds of thousands of people are out of work and many businesses are struggling. If somebody is off sick, the employer not only has to pay for their replacement but will now also have to pay for their absence. We do not want to arrive at a situation where we go so far, so fast, that people have their hours cut or end up being laid off. The Deputy would be delighted with that because he could then blame the Government and the bosses but that would be totally disingenuous.

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