Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I just want to make a couple of valid points. Naturally, I thank the Minister of State for his continuous presence here over the past number of evenings.

As the Acting Chair outlined, I want to speak to the Bill and Senator Casey will speak as well. Many Senators have outlined that throughout the progress of the Bill we have expressed concerns about the impact this will have on small businesses, particularly those in hospitality and customer-facing sectors. Hospitality and retail are the most obvious examples where anyone out due to illness will need to be replaced so that the other staff are not under enormous pressure. As a representative of the Licensed Vintners Association, LVA, the Acting Chairman is well familiar with that. In hospitality, if an employer is suddenly looking for a staff member to work at the weekends and replace someone who is ill, the reality is they will probably have to offer time and a half or double time. Between that and paying the ill employee, naturally enough, employers are impacting on their overheads.

As I outlined previously, I support the Bill, which I believe all Members do, despite some differing views on how it should be implemented. My concern is that small businesses are still seeking to recover from the Covid pandemic in challenging circumstances. They are dealing with a range of challenges in addition to this, particularly with regard to inflation and supply chain issues.

Following on from that, a number of SMEs have contacted me expressing concern about the additional costs their businesses will face under this legislation. As I said previously, these are good, honest and decent employers who want to do the right thing by their staff. However, between the number of issues I have outlined, they are under significant pressure to keep their businesses going. I have seen it suggested that this legislation will add 1% or 2% to their payroll bill.While 1% or 2% may sound a small amount, for many SMEs that might have seven or eight staff, bar restaurants or shops, that is potentially thousands of euro per year. SMEs tell me it is money they simply do not have in the current climate.

With the Minister of State, Deputy English, present, I again want to outline that I am supporting the Bill but I urge the Government to get ahead and to address this issue before it becomes a major problem. I welcome the comments from the Minister of State, Deputy English, last week in the House that it should and could happen, but I would prefer something more certain. As we are all aware, SMEs are the backbone of the Irish economy and there is an onus on all of us, in particular the Government, to ensure their sustainability is at the heart of this legislation.