Ms Bríd O'Brien:

There has been some discussion on that issue. It is something we have sought, as one way of addressing the issue. People could at least over time create access to the benefit, which would be welcome. A challenge facing the self-employed that is now also arising for many employees is the flexibility of the labour market, which means people can only find part time or piecemeal work and the system is not designed for that. We need to bring the system into this century.