Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy suggests, I always want to differentiate between RTÉ and RTÉ staff when we discuss the issue because what happened in RTÉ let the public down and caused a real crisis of confidence in the organisation. The staff of RTÉ have been put through the ringer. They have done nothing wrong and should be supported. All of us - RTÉ management, the governing authority and the Government - share a view regarding getting RTÉ back to where it needs to be. The Deputy is right to say that in late 2020, the Department of Social Protection, through its Scope section, commenced a review into PRSI classification of RTÉ contractors. RTÉ provided the Department with a list of 695 workers engaged on a contract basis in 2018, 2019 and 2020. These formed the basis of the investigation. More than 160 investigations have been progressed with formal decisions made in 138 of the cases. Ninety-three of these were determined to have an employee status, in other words, Class A, while 45 were self-employed Class S. I will not have time to go through my figures but I will come to the Deputy in writing on the rest of it.

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