Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. A trend is emerging as Departments produce facts and figures. My brother who is self-employed and owns a couple of shops which employ up to 48 people rang me this morning. Returns to the Exchequer from the self-employed are down. We have also heard this morning that returns of PRSI receipts are €418 billion, which is 23% higher than estimated. Self-employed persons no longer desire to be self-employed because they believe there is no safety net in place for them. I am aware that the Minister is working on the implementation of measures to assist self-employed persons, the people who will create jobs. The message, based on the returns, is that systems of social protection and so on must be put in place for the self-employed so as to restore confidence as they are the ones who will get us out of the mess we are in.