Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

His answer to that parliamentary question was that if an arrangement constitutes bogus self-employment and results in reduced income tax and social insurance contributions, it is something neither he nor the Minister for Finance would be prepared to allow to continue. That was two years ago and two years is quite a long time. I say that publicly because I want to draw the attention of the current Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to the fact that, two years ago, her predecessor said they would not allow this to continue.

We have the case of Global Technical Services, which is public knowledge. In February 2017, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection wrote to the workers concerned, telling them a decision was made in regard to this company and that it was guilty of bogus self-employment and needed to correct it. The company never appealed that so the letter stated to the workers that the formal decisions referred should mean the company would engage with them and resolve the situation where they are owed money. Last week, I got a letter from the employees stating that, over the recent period, Revenue has begun issuing threatening letters from bailiffs and the full weight of the law to recover the workers’ presumed debts arising from the period of bogus self-employment as certified by the Labour Relations Commission. The letter states the workers have sought and are still seeking confirmation that their former employer assented to the judgments of the scope section of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court, and legally changed their employment status. It has not done so. The workers find that Revenue is using threats and warnings against them and they are trying to find solutions to this issue. They are suffering extreme stress and threats because they were in bogus self-employment and while the Labour Court found they were correct, the employer has done nothing about it. That is exactly two years ago.

We are facing a disgraceful situation. The evidence today is hugely important and I want to thank those who gave it.

Beyond legislation, what do Unite and Mr. Cullen think can be done to stop this outrageous practice?