John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The number of people claiming illness benefit and other disability payments has increased greatly in the past 11 years. There has been a 40% increase, from 173,000 to 242,000 between 2001 and 2011. During that period, Exchequer spending on illness benefit alone has risen from €330 million to €876 million. Transferring responsibility for some element of sick pay would generate administrative savings for the Department and would enable a greater level of resources to be employed in addressing the wider controls, management and activation agendas and would bring Ireland into line with other peer countries.

In Australia, employers pay ten days per annum and employees receive from six to 12 weeks on full pay and four weeks at half pay. In Belgium, employees get four weeks on full pay. In the Czech Republic, employees get two weeks on 60% of average pay. In Denmark employers provide from the top rate of illness benefit to normal pay. In Finland employees get nine days. In France employees are paid from top of the illness benefit to normal pay. Germany pays six weeks on normal pay. Hungary provides 15 days at 80% of salary. Iceland provides one month at normal pay. Italy pays 180 days, six months per year. Luxembourg pays 13 weeks. New Zealand pays five days for each year of service. Norway pays 16 days of full pay. Poland pays 33 days at 80% of pay, based on the previous 12 months. Spain pays 15 days, with the first and fourth unpaid. Sweden pays 14 days at 80%. Switzerland pays three weeks at full pay, then 80% for up to two years. The UK pays 28 weeks at the sickness benefit rate.

As indicated in the table, Ireland is an outlier when it comes to employers being obliged to fund some element of sick pay. Most other European countries, including all of our major competitors oblige employers to pay for some sick pay costs and the extent of this obligation varies considerably. For example, it is two years in the Netherlands, 28 weeks in the UK, six weeks in Germany and nine days in Finland. That is the background to the approach we now propose.