Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

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We welcome that we are here tonight to introduce a right to statutory sick leave, which is positive. It is a shame that it took a global pandemic to get Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil there, but here we are. This amendment aims to make sick leave a real and substantial reality for workers from the word go, as opposed to the Government's proposal. The Government's proposal is to start with three days and then, subject to the whims of the Minister, we may go up to ten days. I support the amendments that propose to start from ten days. That would be a significant improvement. Our amendment goes even further by saying that the reason we are here is the broad acceptance for the need for sick pay. This is about workers' rights and about society at large. It is not good for anybody to have workers who are sick going into work or feeling compelled to go into work. That is bad for everybody involved and for society at large. Workers should, therefore, be entitled to a number of sick days they are sick. It should be the bottom line in legislation that is actually focused on workers' rights as opposed to a very meagre nod to the right of workers to sick days that is extremely circumscribed by the current proposal. These are the essential elements of the amendment.

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