Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This has been a recurring plague. I know the Minister is eager to get her teeth into this matter and I anticipate that she will address it. From a legal perspective, the critical aspect of any analysis is the type of contract engaged in and the classification of it. That is important because when people are employed as ordinary employees, they attract the full corpus of legislative protection vindicating and advancing workers rights. Employers are using this to divest themselves of their obligations in respect of taxes, PRSI contributions, holiday entitlements and, more importantly, pension contributions. I refer to a whole host of various rights in this regard.

Establishing the employment status of an individual is key. As Deputy O'Dea said, the courts have laid out a strong basis on how to do that. It includes not just employment law but also that relating to Revenue. This has been a scam to defeat workers rights and it is time it was brought to an end. The crucial aspect of this - the Chair referred to it in the Dáil - is that when people reach pension age and look for their contributions records, there is a hole in the bucket. This is a major problem. In the current situation, people suffer because they have no protection. In the old days, we used to have wet time rates but they have disappeared. People had to stand out there or otherwise they got nothing and nothing to bring home to their families at weekends.

This is critical in the context of what is available. The Minister is taking on a big job regarding pensions. Well done to her on that. The dichotomy to which I refer is very important in that context. Several of us have raised this in the Dáil. I know the Minister has a study which says it is not as widespread as suggested but people are flying under the radar somewhere. The Minister is trying to find out what is happening and we will all assist her in trying to resolve this conundrum.