Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

92. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is planning to increase paid sick leave days to seven days, from 1 January 2025 as previously promised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43535/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In line with the requirements of Section 6 of the Sick Leave Act 2022, to inform my decision in respect of the next phase in the roll-out of the statutory sick leave (SSL) scheme, research is being conducted by my Department on the impact of statutory sick leave to date.

Officials in my Department worked with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on the first phase of this research which has now been completed. This work resulted in the identification of certain informational and data gaps, including data required to identify workers and firms who are currently covered by a company sick pay policy.

In order to bridge these gaps, my Department sub-contracted a market research company to conduct a firm-level survey, representative of the sectoral and size distribution of Irish companies. The results from the survey have been received and are currently being analysed by officials from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES).

It is anticipated that the resulting research will be finalised this quarter and used as part of the evidence base to inform my decision on any potential increase to the entitlement. It is important to bear in mind that this is a relatively new form of research, as the Sick Leave Act itself has only been in operation since January 2023 and a comprehensive analysis of the sick pay landscape has not been undertaken to date.

An order to vary the Statutory Sick Leave entitlement cannot be made before 1 January 2025.