John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Professor Doherty's opening statement was very insightful and gave a different perspective from that given by witnesses from trade unions and from congress. They estimated a loss of PRSI and tax in the construction sector alone of up to €240 million per year. Professor Doherty talked about the massive growth of the gig economy. I am not sure if he has done specific work on this area but this topic has not really come before me until now. We hear about construction, the media sector and airline pilots but this has not appeared on my radar. It would be very helpful if Professor Doherty could expand on this a little.

Professor Doherty said that creating a third category would add to complexity and cause confusion. I was going to ask him if it should be looked at but it seems, from his answer to Deputy O'Dea's question, that he thinks not. I am interested in public procurement processes because I have some experience of dealing with people forced into bogus self-employment when working on public projects, such as for housing or schools. One of the unions that came before us said it had represented a number of workers who were employed on projects involving Carillion to construct schools, which got into serious difficulty and ultimately went bust. They took a successful case on behalf of plumbers who had been forced into bogus self-employment. I have come across people who worked on school and housing projects where the main developers got into serious financial difficulty and there were restrictions on the workers in terms of redundancy or access to social welfare because of their bogus self-employment.

Professor Doherty said the State should carefully monitor any subcontracting relationships. Will he expand on that? ICTU gave its perspective as to what should happen in such cases and it would be interesting to know if he has similar views. It is rife in the sector and contractors get contracts for fixed prices and then engage people in bogus self-employment, meaning pay and conditions suffer. What would Professor Doherty recommend as part of a monitoring process?