John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives from Unite the Union and Captain Cullen for coming in this morning. This is a continuation of an ongoing process. We have had witnesses from ICTU and other bodies appear before us. We have gathered evidence already and the evidence provided by Unite the Union and IALPA backs up all the statistics and the evidence that has been presented. I think people will be genuinely shocked and surprised by what is going on.

The officials in Revenue and in the Department have looked the other way and this has allowed the facilitation of massive tax fraud in the State.

The work of this committee will shine a spotlight and bring forward solutions and proposals. A number of Opposition parties, my own included, have brought forward legislation to deal with the massive issue of bogus self-employment and wholesale tax fraud.

I have a number of questions for the representatives from Unite the Union. The figures the union provided back up all of the statistics we have been given previously. More than 224,000 people who are classed as self-employed have no employees. I think it is a conservative estimate that 25% of those people are bogus self-employed.

When an issue is brought to the attention of Unite the Union, irrespective of the area of employment, what is the first course of action? Has the union brought many cases or helped to bring cases to the scope section of the Department? What has been the union's experience of that process? Have many cases have been successful?

What difficulties for English language teachers have our guests encountered ? They referred to a serious problem in Dublin. In my constituency of Wicklow, there is a large number of English language schools, as there are in other major urban areas such as Galway and Cork. Is it just a Dublin issue or has it raised its head in other areas? With Brexit coming and plans to expand the area with more than €2 billion, there are significant opportunities for us, notwithstanding the serious concerns that the problem will spread. Will our guests comment on that?

On IALPA, Mr. Cullen's statement was alarming, dark and frightening because of the safety concerns. When I hear the word "safety" used by pilots, it is enough to set off alarm bells. Will Mr. Cullen elaborate on those safety concerns and on whether they have been raised with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport or the Irish Aviation Authority? If so, what kind of response was given? The issue has been investigated in Britain and Germany. It appears that Irish law is being used by some airlines to set up systems of questionable and precarious self-employment to get around our weak system, despite their being investigated by other countries. Do all Irish airlines use self-employment contracts? I refer to the likes of Ryanair and Aer Lingus. If they do, are breakdowns of the types of contracts available? Do non-Irish airlines set up in Ireland and use our system as a base and, if so, are there statistics in that regard?

Has IALPA spoken to the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection about the state of affairs and, if so, what was the response? Has it reported its concerns to all the relevant authorities? Has it raised them with the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport? If so, what was the response? Mr. Cullen referred to young pilots being forced into precarious positions of work. Are there cases of young pilots leaving, or starting training, being forced out and not completing their course because of the arrangements? Why is Ireland's rate of self-employment for pilots three times higher than the European average?