Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

I understand where the Minister is coming from because €775 million is the cost to small businesses for absenteeism. The small firms average is seven days, with a national average of nine days. As Senator Quinn pointed out, however, in the public service it is 11 days. If a person who is earning €30,000 takes eleven days off because he is ill, it costs €442 million, a huge cost to the State.

It has been found that stress is the greatest contributor to absenteeism, replacing back pain as the top cause. A survey carried out by the International Labour Organisation in 2002 showed 80 million lost working days in a year, with 14% of NHS inpatient costs and 25% of the cost of medication resulting from stress related illnesses in workers. If a survey was done in this country on illness caused by stress and what businesses do to provide stress alleviation and education, plus family responsibilities such as home care and child care, what would the results be? What would we save by looking at such areas?