I'm still not clear in the position of annual leave and sickness in Ireland. Following ECJ decision in ANGED and UK courts' interpretations of other cases (e.g. Larner), does annual leave automatically transfer to the next year if an employee is sick and cannot take their leave in the current year? Does it matter if the employee is based in the private or public sectors?

S.20 (1) (c) of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 ("OWTA") provides that annual leave must be taken within the leave year to which it relates or, with the consent of the employee, within the 6 months thereafter.

If an employee has not had the opportunity to take the leave within the leave year because he/she was on sick leave, the annual leave carries over into the following year but, under Irish law must be taken within the first 6 months of the next leave year or it will be extinguished. The statutory carry-over period in Ireland is therefore 6 months.

In the German case of Schulte, the ECJ found that a carry-over period of 15 months was acceptable and that the carry-over period