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The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government in its report and of the Act respecting daily cash benefit in the event of sickness or childbirth (No. 852 of 20 December 1989). It would be grateful if the Government would provide additional information on the following points:

1. Part III (Sickness Benefit), Article 21, in conjunction with Articles 22 or 23, of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government's statement in its report to the effect that the provisions of Article 23 of the Convention were used in calculating the amount of sickness benefit. Since the above-mentioned Article 23 in principle applies to social security schemes which pay benefits in a lump sum or provide for a minimum amount of benefit, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the statistical information requested under Titles I and II of Article 23 in the report form adopted by the Governing Body, stating in particular the minimum amount of sickness benefit and the wage of the ordinary adult male labourer as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 23.

Should the Government wish to avail itself of the provisions of Article 22 of the Convention which in principle applies to social security schemes under which sickness benefit is proportional to the former earnings of the beneficiary, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the statistical information required by the report form under Titles I and II of Article 22, stating in particular the amount of the wage of a skilled manual male employee as defined in paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 22, and the maximum amount of the sickness benefit.

Please indicate for whichever of the above Articles is used, the amount of family allowances paid during employment and during the contingency.

2. Article 26, paragraph 1. The Committee notes that, under section 22, subsection 1 of Act No. 852 of 1989, sickness benefit is paid for a maximum of 52 weeks over a period of 18 calendar months, unless special circumstances justify a longer period. It recalls that, under Article 26, paragraph 1, of the Convention, the grant of benefit may be limited to not less than 52 weeks, in each case of incapacity. Accordingly, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report whether a worker who has exhausted his right to sickness benefit under section 22, subsection 1 of the Act of 1989 and resumes work and completes a new period of employment of 13 weeks in accordance with section 2, subsection 4, may receive benefit for any new contingency, without awaiting the end of the 18-month period.