Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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126. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the provision of statutory sick pay for all employees; his views on the equity of transferring the financial burden of sick pay to employers; the way employers will be supported in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55487/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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This Government is committed to introducing a statutory sick pay scheme and work is well underway in this regard.

Any move to introduce a statutory sick pay scheme must be balanced with the need to support the viability of the business and enterprise sector, thereby protecting jobs. My Department undertook a full public consultation, reviewed international best practice, and formed an interdepartmental group – to ensure that all views and issues were properly considered in the development of the scheme.

The draft Heads of Bill have been published and are available on my Department’s website.

I have given a lot of consideration to the current pressures on business, and the design parameters and the incremental approach to be taken over 4 years are in recognition of this. While there will be some additional costs, the scheme is not intended to impose excessive costs on employers.

In the first instance, the legislation will provide for a replacement rate of 70% of gross salary for a duration of 3 working days in a calendar year. Coupled with the 70% rate of pay, the application of a daily earnings cut-off point of €110 will ensure that employers do not face excessive costs and that jobs are not jeopardised.

However, for those employers who are genuinely unable to cover the costs, we have, under Section 10 of the draft Bill, included a provision whereby an employer may seek an exemption from the Labour Court from the requirement to pay statutory sick leave for a period not less than three months and not more than twelve months.

Pre-legislative scrutiny commenced on 10th November. Once this process is complete, I will seek Government approval to present the Bill to the Houses.