John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ms Murphy has mentioned a number of times that the prevalence of self-employment is diminishing, but that is not what we are investigating. We are investigating bogus self-employment. We need to be very clear about this and not repeat the same line over and over again that the prevalence of self-employment is diminishing. It is diminishing because total employment is increasing. Ms Murphy has stated the self-employed make up 15% of the total number in employment. That comes to well over 300,000 people. The actual number involved may be exactly the same as it was five or ten years ago, or it may be higher. However, the chart shows a decline from 1998 in the number of people involved. While they make up a smaller percentage of the total number in employment, the number is every bit as great as it was in 1998. While I acknowledge the prevalence, it is a play on words as we are speaking about bogus self-employment contracts. Fifteen per cent of 2.2 million workers is 330,000, which is still a significant number of persons who are self-employed. Therefore, I do not want the diminishing prevalence to be overplayed. My point is that there is still a substantial number of people who are self-employed.