I am not sure if the Tánaiste saw the Fine Gael video posted online yesterday about their 15 ways to help business. I saw it; I watch little else these days. The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, starts to speak at point No. 12. He writes the words "Sick Pay" on a flip chart. He then goes on to say, "We are going to pause further changes in this area and ask the Economic and Social Research Institute to evaluate the impact of any further policy decisions." The Minister did not have the courage to say the words "sick pay" out loud in the video. We all know what the plan is. It has been floated by Fine Gael since Deputy Simon Harris took over as Taoiseach and leader of the party. Yesterday it was confirmed as Government policy that any further increase in the current five days of statutory paid sick leave would be blocked. A clear signal was given to business that this will not go ahead. It comes at the same time as a no-strings attached multimillion euro bailout package for business was announced. There was no requirement to engage in collective bargaining or with the industrial relations machinery of the State. This is support for the sectors with the highest number of low-paid workers. At the same time, Fine Gael plans to restrict any improvement in the rights of these workers. Let that sink in. To help business, the plan is to cut future sick leave entitlements for workers and to slow down future increases in the minimum wage.

What message does this send to workers? What happened to the pandemic dividend? The Labour Party introduced its Sick Leave and Parental Leave (Covid-19) Bill in 2020 because it was a vital part of our response to Covid and Ireland was an outlier in the EU. In Belgium, a worker gets 30 days at full pay. In Germany, it is six weeks at full pay. It is important that we bust some myths about Ireland's sick-pay law. Employers in Ireland already pay one of the lowest social insurance rates in Europe and the package announced yesterday will cut it further. A person must be certified as sick or unable to work by a GP. Workers were told this will be phased in. We must also remember that this is not full pay; under the law a worker would get 70% of the normal weekly pay up to a maximum of €110 a day.

Who does statutory sick pay benefit? It helps those in precarious, insecure and low-paid work, who predominantly are young people, migrants and women. Better paid workers are more likely to be unionised or have fully paid sick leave in their contracts. The cost-of-living crisis has not gone away. Incomes are still squeezed by rising prices. If a person is sick should he or she go to work? If a person is too sick, should he or she get sick pay?

This Government has actually been supporting workers and we have a very strong record on strengthening and introducing workers' rights. In January 2023, we introduced statutory sick pay entitlement for all workers, which provides a crucial safety net to protect workers who become ill. It again underscores our commitment to the welfare and well-being of our workforce. From 1 January this year the number of statutory sick leave days increased from three to five. The Deputy will be aware that in February of last year we introduced a new permanent public holiday, St. Brigid's Day, which brings the number of public holidays in Ireland to ten. We also have the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 that provides employees with the right to request a remote working arrangement with their employer, recognising the changing dynamics of the modern workplace. We also have the European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations 2022 and the Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022 . Furthermore, we are developing the auto-enrolment initiative, which will benefit hundreds of thousands of workers who do not have adequate pension cover. We introduced the concept of the living wage and the convergence of the minimum wage with the living wage has been quite significant as evidenced by the increase in the minimum wage last year.

There are many workers across the country who work in small businesses and who work in the retail and hospitality sector. I am sure the Deputy has been inundated with representation from people working in shops, restaurants and so on who are saying to the Government and the Oireachtas that cumulatively this has had an impact on small businesses as they emerge from Covid. It is legitimate that we introduce measures to try to help the hospitality and retail sectors. They have focused on the increased costs of business, ICOB, scheme, which is the contribution to businesses being reopened with opportunities for those who received the first grant of a minimum of €5,000 so they could receive a second grant. That is the fundamental change. It will also raise the PRSI eligibility threshold to make sure the PRSI rate will not increase with the increase in the minimum wage for many small employers.

Those are the fundamental improvements that will help people and businesses in the short term, along with reviewing other mechanisms or issues. It is legitimate at least to review to determine the position. A record 2.7 million people are at work overall in our economy. In the past year alone, we added 90,000 jobs, and 550,000 jobs have been created since this Government took office, the point being that a balance needs to be struck between enabling people to have the most fundamental opportunity of all, which is the opportunity to work-----

The time is up.

I do not know what question the Tánaiste was answering but he was not answering mine. In the Fine Gael video, they did not have the courage to say "sick pay" out loud. The Tánaiste did not say it out loud either in his answer to me. If he and I are too sick to come to work, we get paid anyway, but low-paid workers in insecure, low-paid jobs, who are predominantly young people, migrants and women, are unlikely to get paid if sick. Why should these vulnerable workers have that right paused?

I did mention sick pay.

The Tánaiste said “sick leave”. He did not address the question of the stalling of sick pay, a Government promise.

I said that from January 2024, the number of statutory sick leave days has increased from three to five.

The next phase. It is a substantial issue that I am raising. The Tánaiste did not answer-----

There has not been a decision on the next phase, but there is a review.

Fine Gael has made a decision.

That is not a decision. Let us be very clear-----

The Tánaiste should talk to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform about it.

There is an issue. The most fundamental thing is to create employment opportunities in our economy. Most people want to be at work. The Deputy nodded in affirmation that the hospitality and retail sectors have been on to him. The first people to lose out if costs become unsustainable are those very vulnerable and low-paid workers he was talking about, because it will mean fewer people being hired. Of all the insolvencies this year, quite a significant percentage have occurred in the hospitality and retail sectors. There is a need to endeavour to understand what has led to that. I acknowledge there will be different factors. There is a need to absorb the information and endeavour to respond to it, which in fairness we have by way of the number of supports we are giving to businesses, particularly smaller businesses.

These are rights taken for granted right across the European Union.