Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for the delay in starting. There was crash involving a truck on the M50 and then it started to snow. Of course, these things never happened when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, but they do on occasion.

The Deputy is correct. This section simply extends access to invalidity pension to self-employed persons and will not take effect until December 2017. I would prefer if it was to start earlier than that date. I was hoping it would take effect in March, June or even September, but it requires the Department to gear up to deal with something new administratively. Given that treatment benefits and other new measures are also being introduced, on this occasion it has to do more with administrative reasons than savings. It is not true, however, of the changes in weekly rates which it is estimated will cost between €4 million and €5 million in year one and €25 million in a full year. It is very difficult to know the exact number of self-employed persons who may be eligible for invalidity pension, but that is the estimated cost of the changes in weekly rates.

The section does not apply to illness benefit. This is something I will examine in the context of a future Social Welfare Bill or budget. It is a hard nut to crack because when an employee is out sick, he or she goes to the doctor, receives a certificate and is paid on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. For a self-employed person, the process is much more complicated.

The Deputy is correct that the section also does not cover occupational injury benefit, but it is my intention to examine some aspects of the scheme, particularly disablement benefit with a view to including it either in a Bill in the spring or a future budget.