Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand that Fine Gael Members like to come in here and throw bouquets at themselves, and fair play to them for doing it. It is not lost on me, however, that during its time in Government, Fine Gael cut the sick leave entitlement for serving civil and public servants in half, without a backward glance or second thought. It was aided and abetted by its then partners in Government. That was a retrograde step.

During the pandemic, plenty of us, not just Fine Gael and its Government colleagues, spoke about sick leave being an important instrument of public health. Yet, the Minister has said he is not committed to delivering on the commitment given by his Government. He has been asked a simple question. He is either on the track to providing ten days' paid sick leave, or not. He can share that information with us now because the speculation in the media is that he is going to pause the measure. That would be absolutely disgraceful. I want to hear that he is not going to do that. It was a commitment given by his Government. It would be very simple for him to say today whether he will or will not support and honour that commitment.

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