Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What I am thinking at the moment is that it would be a working group rather than a commission and would consist of the Departments and Government bodies that will be affected by this such as the Revenue Commissioners and the Departments of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Finance. It would be a working group that would have to instigate a period of public consultation in which all bodies would be able to participate, including the different stakeholders to which the Deputy has referred.

In response to her question about the self-employed, on which the Deputy also questioned me during Priority Questions in the Chamber recently, I am looking forward to seeing the paper on this matter. I am looking forward to receiving it and then seeing it published. She also put a point to me regarding the fact that the benefits somebody who is self-employed can get are very different to those who are employed for the key reason that the employer's rate of PRSI is missing. That is why I am careful about saying, even at an early stage, that this system should move to a purely contributory system. If it moves to a purely contributory system, I will exercise great caution to make sure we do not, at a time in which we are trying to perhaps expand benefits in a number of areas, deepen the inability of people actually to access them. This is one of the things we want to work through.