Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all know the rationale for the sick leave legislation but, again, we ask why it is being dealt with in this legislation and why there is not standalone primary legislation to underpin it. The Minister mentioned earlier the importance of having specific primary legislation for this purpose but why not have it on its own? Similarly, as legislators, we should have the regulations in front of us when we are making important legislation as we cannot do our work without the full picture. I ask the Minister for an update on the regulations and when they will be laid before the House.

Many of the issues were raised in the other House when these amendments were made. One of them was the issue of retrospection, which I would like to put on the record of the House, given this is a very different Bill from the one we dealt with on Second Stage, Committee Stage and Report Stage. In a parliamentary question to the Department, my colleague, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, asked whether these regulations will include provision to retrospectively apply the new certified sick leave arrangements. In its response, the Department recounted the necessity to give public service employees advance notice of the new scheme and make provision for a transitional period. She was informed that access to the new reduced limits of sick leave is not being applied retrospectively. The Department went on to explain that individual sick leave records will remain unchanged following the legislation and will continue to be used to determine whether an individual has access to paid sick leave and at what rate. It pointed out that when an individual is absent from work due to sick leave, his or her record over the previous four-year rolling period will be examined to see if the sick leave limits have been exhausted. This seems to indicate that the new regime will be retrospective. We would have grave concerns about that and I see it causing some difficulty.

Will the Minister address this issue and explain why we are dealing with this legislation when there are matters still outstanding? The critical illness protocol is being discussed currently and we should wait until those issues are resolved at the Labour Court before we legislate today.