3.— (1) Section 44 (amended by section 4 of the Act of 2006) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) before that day was entitled, in respect of any period of interruption of employment (whether including that day or not), to illness benefit for 312 days,”,

(b) in subsection (1A) (inserted by section 15(2) of the Act of 2008), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) before that day was entitled, in respect of any period of interruption of employment (whether including that day or not) during the period beginning on 5 January 2009, to illness benefit for 624 days,”, and

(c) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) Notwithstanding subsection (1)—

(a) where a period of incapacity for work commences before 3 January 2011 and continues on or after that date, subsection (1)(b) shall apply as if the words ‘during the period beginning on the date one year immediately before that day’ were inserted after ‘(whether including that day or not)’, and

(b) where a period of incapacity for work commences on or after 3 January 2011 and forms part of a period of interruption of employment during which a previous period of incapacity for work commenced before 3 January 2011, the period for which illness benefit shall be paid in respect of the period of incapacity for work commencing on or after 3 January 2011 shall be 312 days less the cumulative number of days for which illness benefit was determined as having been paid at the end of the last period of incapacity for work that commenced before 3 January 2011.”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on 3 January 2011.