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

These things amount to a judgment call. My original view was the same as the Deputies in that it should be 20 weeks' remuneration but having taken advice, in particular legal advice, and heard the views of many others, we had to try to make sure the penalty was proportionate to the offence. When we looked across other legislation, for example, paternity leave, when the entitlement was two weeks' paternity leave, the penalty was two weeks. It was, in essence, 100%. If the person was not given two weeks' paternity benefit or leave, the penalty was that again. We are actually proposing to double that. If the person is not given three days' sick pay, the employer could have to bear a penalty nearly seven times that, which is 20 weeks. Even if it gets to ten days, it will still be double. It is a judgment call. We are trying to get the balance right. We believe the penalty being double the offence is proportionate and that is the thinking behind it.

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