Ms Colette Godkin:

Deputy Brady asked about the scope of the problem of bogus self-employment in the English language teaching sector. It is difficult for us to determine the extent, partly because it is a newly unionised sector, so we have to approach people individually and ask about the situation in their school. One issue we keep encountering is the fear on the part of employees of speaking up. It is a sector that has a long-standing culture of employment abuses and the position of workers is very precarious. It is quite common, for instance, for people to be told on a Friday that there is no work for them the following Monday. It is difficult for people to speak up for their rights because they are afraid of losing their job. We have determined with certainty that there are two quite large language schools in Dublin engaging in bogus self-employment, and I heard this week of two more that are doing the same. There is also a temping agency, which provides cover teachers, engaging in the practice.