Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2017
290. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the leave arrangements in circumstances in which a person is out due to serious sick leave in the public service (details supplied); the way these matters are dealt with at an operational level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46217/17]
View answerWhile I cannot comment on individual cases or circumstances, the following sets out the position in relation to the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme and provisions for serious illness. The Critical Illness Protocol (CIP) is the basis for access to extended sick leave which provides substantial additional protection to employees experiencing critical illnesses or serious injury.
Where an employee is given access to the critical illness provisions the Scheme provides for:
- Up to 365 days' paid sick leave in a four year period (comprising 183 days or 6 months on full pay in a one year period, followed by 182 days, a further 6 months, on half pay). This is the same as the access that existed under the previous sick leave schemes in place across much of the public service.
- Under a protective year provision, an employee who has taken sick leave because of a critical illness or injury will continue to have access to the extended sick pay limits for 12 months following the first day of the critical illness.
- An extended period of temporary rehabilitation remuneration (TRR) of up to 730 days (2 years) may be paid where it is a direct continuation of an illness under the CIP and
- A further period of sick leave is required to rehabilitate from the critical illness/injury;
- An occupational health physician certifies that there is a reasonable prospect of the employee returning to work and giving regular and effective service; and
- The decision to award the additional period of TRR is reviewed every 6 months.
An application under the CIP must be made by the Public Servant or on their behalf. The application is then assessed under certain criteria. These are set out in the CIP, available on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform http://hr.per.gov.ie/sick-leave/. These are:
- The employee should be under the current or recent care of a consultant;
- The treating doctor’s medical reports must be furnished;
- The case must be referred by the employer to its Occupational Health Service who will advise whether, in their opinion, the following criteria are met:
- The employee is medically unfit to return to his/her current duties or (where practicable) modified duties in the same pay grade;
- The nature of this medical condition has at least one of the following characteristics;
1. Acute life threatening physical illness
2. Chronic progressive illness, with well-established potential to reduce life expectancy
3. Major physical trauma ordinarily requiring corrective acute operative surgical treatment
4. In-patient hospital care of two consecutive weeks or greater
Where an employee does not meet the medical criteria outlined above, management may still make a decision, in consultation with the Occupational Physician, to award extended sick pay in exceptional circumstances.
There are also provisions for the appeal of either the decision of the occupational health physician or that of management.
While I have outlined the general provisions of the Sick Leave Scheme that relate to critical illnesses, it is the severity of the employee's condition that is relevant in determining their access to paid sick leave.
