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

I am sympathetic to the point the Deputies are making. Deputy Bruton from my party spoke in favour of this change earlier as well. In particular, when we are saying that it has to be certified, there is an argument for saying that the right should kick in at an earlier stage. At the same time, I am sensitive to the fact that there are employers who take people on seasonally, perhaps for just a short period of three to five or six weeks over the summer. If they found that they spent half of that time paying somebody to be out sick and paying the person's replacement, that would put an undue burden on them particularly for those types of summer jobs and very short-term jobs. That is why we have gone with the view that the person should accrue at least some service. I am not minded to accept the amendments, but I understand the Deputies' motivation. It might be something we change in the future.

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