Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6.

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“(9) The Minister may by bringing forward a report within 3 months of the passing of this legislation on the merits of regulations providing that subsection (10) not apply until such time as the full roll out of primary healthcare free at the point of delivery has been achieved, and until such time employees shall be allowed to self-certify as being incapable of working due to illness or injury and be entitled to statutory sick leave.”.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English. This amendment is important. The reality in this State is we live in a low pay economy. Close to one quarter of workers are on low pay. On top of that we do not have the same basic State provision of GP visits and care as other European countries. These matters make the Irish context very different in regard to medical certification for access to sick pay. This is a very moderate amendment which simply asks for a report to look into this issue. We need to do this because, for example, my son works in a minimum wage job at €10.50 an hour. His day's pay is €84. If he is sick he has to pay a GP €60. According to this Bill he will not even get the €85 sick pay because sick pay is only at 70%.The reality for all low-paid workers in this State who are on minimum wage is that if they are sick, they will end up with €58 but have to pay €60 to a GP. In other words, the sick pay will not even cover the cost of visiting a GP. That is another barrier. Sinn Féin supports the Bill but the Minister of State has to get rid of the barriers. He does not seem to have a full perspective on how this Bill as it is currently drawn up impacts on low-wage workers. I have given him a concrete example in that regard and I ask him to acknowledge that under the Bill as it is currently constituted, the first day of sick pay amounts to zero. That is just a fact. The ask is for the Minister of State to consider this.

Under Sláintecare, all parties are apparently committed to bringing about free GP care. I ask him to please not go down the road of stating that many people have medical cards. I have the threshold figures before me. I know from the experience of my son that a low-paid worker on the minimum wage who works more than 30 hours a week, does not qualify for a GP visit card or a medical card, so I ask the Minister of State not to go down that road. The issue is that, right now, many people who have to pay €60 to a GP - it is more likely to be €70 in Dublin these days - under the Bill as constituted will end up getting nothing for that day's pay. Our ask is simple. The Government needs to address the issue and make the Bill workable for low-paid workers. It needs to remove the barriers. I hope the Minister of State will accept the amendment.