Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure if the Tánaiste saw the Fine Gael video posted online yesterday about their 15 ways to help business. I saw it; I watch little else these days. The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, starts to speak at point No. 12. He writes the words "Sick Pay" on a flip chart. He then goes on to say, "We are going to pause further changes in this area and ask the Economic and Social Research Institute to evaluate the impact of any further policy decisions." The Minister did not have the courage to say the words "sick pay" out loud in the video. We all know what the plan is. It has been floated by Fine Gael since Deputy Simon Harris took over as Taoiseach and leader of the party. Yesterday it was confirmed as Government policy that any further increase in the current five days of statutory paid sick leave would be blocked. A clear signal was given to business that this will not go ahead. It comes at the same time as a no-strings attached multimillion euro bailout package for business was announced. There was no requirement to engage in collective bargaining or with the industrial relations machinery of the State. This is support for the sectors with the highest number of low-paid workers. At the same time, Fine Gael plans to restrict any improvement in the rights of these workers. Let that sink in. To help business, the plan is to cut future sick leave entitlements for workers and to slow down future increases in the minimum wage.

What message does this send to workers? What happened to the pandemic dividend? The Labour Party introduced its Sick Leave and Parental Leave (Covid-19) Bill in 2020 because it was a vital part of our response to Covid and Ireland was an outlier in the EU. In Belgium, a worker gets 30 days at full pay. In Germany, it is six weeks at full pay. It is important that we bust some myths about Ireland's sick-pay law. Employers in Ireland already pay one the lowest social insurance rates in Europe and the package announced yesterday will cut it further. A person must be certified as sick or unable to work by a GP. Workers were told this will be phased in. We must also remember that this is not full pay; under the law a worker would get 70% of the normal weekly pay up to a maximum of €110 a day.

Who does statutory sick pay benefit? It helps those in precarious, insecure and low-paid work, who predominantly are young people, migrants and women. Better paid workers are more likely to be unionised or have fully paid sick leave in their contracts. The cost-of-living crisis has not gone away. Incomes are still squeezed by rising prices. If a person is sick should he or she go to work? If a person is too sick, should he or she get sick pay?

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