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

I thank the Deputy for her remarks. I hope that in times to come people will look back on this Government as one that has made a lot of strides forward in improving terms and conditions for workers. At a time when employers find it hard to recruit and retain staff, I believe that better terms and conditions and better pay must be part of the solution. We are moving towards a living wage. Auto-enrolment, which has been spoken about for a very long time, will become a reality in 2024. People in the private sector in particular will now have an occupational pension to top up their State pension in the way those in the public sector and the big companies do. Sick pay is a reality from 1 January. There is a new public holiday in February and the legislation that is being brought through on work-life balance and remote working is a good step forward, too. This builds on reforms like paternity benefit, enhanced maternity benefit, and the restoration of treatment benefit which we have seen in previous years. It is all about making work pay and rewarding people for the work they do, which we believe will help to build a better society.

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