Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste to the Chamber. It is a pleasure to be able to discuss this Bill with him. I welcome this legislation coming to the House. As was mentioned by my colleague, Senator Crowe, Fianna Fáil will, of course, be supporting this Bill. It is an important one because it gives all workers in Ireland the right to paid sick leave for the first time. This is something I firmly support. It is long overdue. Workers and their families deserve and need access to a level of paid sick leave. It is a fundamental right of workers and I am pleased my party can play its part in delivering this provision.

Many of us in this House and in the Lower House have been aware of the precarious conditions of many workers, especially those who are low paid and in the private sector. It is fair to say that the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the great disparities in terms and conditions between workers. Undoubtedly, this Bill seeks to advance the cause of workers and attempts to equalise entitlements in respect of sick leave. No one should ever feel pressured to go to work when unwell because of not being able to afford not to for fear of ending up in a situation where mortgage, rent or utility bill payments could be missed. I know of a case of one lady who had cancerous cells found during a routine breast check. Luckily, that cancer was caught early and the cancerous tissue was removed through surgery. That lady is now waiting for her radiotherapy sessions to begin. She was, however, scared, shocked and emotionally distraught and, unfortunately, had to go back to work two weeks after her surgery because her employer refused to pay her sick pay. It is not right for that to be the case two weeks after serious and invasive surgery. She simply could not afford to recover from cancer. It is wrong that this lady was forced to work straight through radiotherapy sessions regardless of the impact. This is wrong in the Ireland of 2022 and that is why this Bill is so important. People need to know that illness, and especially serious illness, will not financially ruin them and their families.

We are one of the few advanced economies in Europe without a mandatory sick leave entitlement. Under current arrangements, sick leave is provided to about half of all employees through their terms and conditions. This situation cannot be allowed to continue where a mere 50% of workers are covered. As members of Government parties, we must continue to advocate on behalf of workers. There is a significant gap between workers in the public sector, almost all of whom get sick pay, and those in the private sector, where there is much less coverage. Equalisation in terms and conditions must be a priority.

I am glad the scheme is being phased in to help employers to plan and to manage the additional cost, which has been capped. The new scheme will start with three days per year once the Bill is enacted, and that will rise to five days in 2024, seven days in 2025 and ten days in 2026. It is a significant change and one that small business owners are anxious about. There is no doubt that many larger private sector businesses can well afford a sick pay scheme and are simply choosing to not pay it. Equally, however, many SMEs and independent operators, even in my area of south Kildare, are concerned about this idea. The amendments made by the Government in the Dáil, however, have strengthened this legislation regarding the maximum amount the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, or Labour Court can award. This has brought the penalty for breaches more into line with protections for other types of leave.

The Bill is intended to support the rights and conditions of workers. Again, from my dealings with small business owners in south Kildare, I know the response has been positive. Businesses want to support their staff and to treat their employees well. I have no doubt that this Bill will aid them in this regard. It will still have an impact, however, and I would like to see some level of support being put in place to help ease the pressure on and, indeed, the anxieties of many small business owners. I say that because this could potentially be a costly change. We must help to ensure that it does not disproportionately impact small businesses. We all received a report from the Local Jobs Alliance, LJA, that highlighted the challenges for the sector. If people are sick, the employer will have to pay 70% of the cost of the sick leave, but also 100% of the cost of the replacement. We must examine this aspect because need an equitable system. We must bear this in mind in a context where we are talking about rural Ireland, supporting businesses and reincentivising supports for village and town centres.