Council of Trade Unions welcomes restoration of illness benefit in Budget

BRAY and District Council of Trade Unions has expressed overall disappointment with Budget 2021, but welcomed the decision to finally restore illness benefit payments after three days of illness, an issue which they have campaigned on for some time. ‘We certainly welcome the fact that the Government has finally reversed the 2014 decision to increase the waiting time to qualify for illness benefit from three days to six days,’ said Derek Casserly of Bray and District Council of Trade Unions.

‘It should be remembered that in Budget 2018 the Government restored many of the measures that were implemented during the financial crisis but failed to address this issue that severely impacted on the most vulnerable workers,’ he said.

‘ This Council campaigned on this and we received the support of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions at its conference in 2019 and it was part of the Congress pre-Budget submission.’

Mr Casserly said that given that there are a significant number of workers who do not have occupational sick pay arrangements, particularly in lower paid employment, many of whom are to the fore during the pandemic and under threat of becoming sick, ‘it is the very least we would have expected’.

He said that the Council of Trade Unions supports the Congress position that there should be no waiting time at all.

The Council of Trade Unions also expressed disappointment that Budget 2021 had not restored the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to €350.

‘If this was considered the right amount in March, then why is it not the right amount in October?’ said the council in a statement.

Furthermore, the Council has also condemned the decision not to direct any extra funding towards childcare, particularly pointing out that many of the 27,000 childcare workers are paid the minimum wage, despite being highly skilled and qualified professionals.