John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is astonishing that the Department does not record the number of cases of bogus self-employment. The opening statement cited several reports indicating bogus self-employment is rife within the State. How can a statement like that be made when the Department does not even keep the records? It is unbelievable and it certainly shines a light on the attitude of the Government and the Department in tackling this very serious and growing issue. It is certainly not subsiding and is increasing daily. More sectors are being drawn into this fraud. It is an act of defrauding the State and the PRSI system. A report from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions reckons that over eight years, it has cost the State what may be a low estimate of €600 million from unpaid employer PRSI. Will the witnesses comment on that? It is by no means insignificant. I can think of many groups of marginalised citizens in the State who could benefit massively from that money and I am sure the Department would welcome €600 million.

This fraud exposes the Government as the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, led a campaign and spent a great amount of money to fight social welfare fraud. The figures bear out the argument that the more substantial fraud within the State is with certain employers. It was a shambolic campaign launched by the Department and this Government and only 50 phone calls and 30 emails were received. That says it all.

I am interested in finding out the number of inspections carried out by social welfare inspectors this year. How many inspections have been carried out by the Revenue Commissioners and Workplace Relations Commission? The point was made about significance. I am not sure if the witnesses are aware of a report carried out in the media sector by Mr. Philip Boucher-Hayes that was widely publicised. He said the phenomenon is endemic in the media sector and rife in the State broadcaster, RTÉ. That certainly does not sound insignificant. It is rife within the construction sector as well. It is also common in public projects funded by the State, including housing projects, schools and other capital projects throughout the country. People are being forced to register as self-employed and going to work as subcontractors. Not only are they missing out on entitlements such as holiday or sick pay etc., there are some recent examples of developers getting State contracts for housing projects going into examinership or receivership, leaving the people forced to register as self-employed and subcontractors high and dry and owed substantial sums of money. That is because they were forced into this ludicrous scenario in the first place. As subcontractors, they will receive a couple of cent in the euro of that debt.

This needs to be addressed. I am aware Members from Solidarity-People Before Profit have brought forward legislation on this and Sinn Féin supports it totally. Are the officials aware of that legislation? The only way to deal with the issue is through legislation. Employment law can be cited but clearly it has not and will not work. We need distinct legislation on this. Have the officials looked at how other countries have tackled this fraud? It needs to be tackled in this State as well.