Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The report's final recommendation reads, "The Committee recommends that annual targets are developed to ensure the number of PRSI checks remains consistent." The Department accepts this and state that in recent years the number of employer PRSI inspections has been low. It is very important for the protection of employees that the proper PRSI is deducted and recorded. The report also states :

This programme included a special Employer Inspection Conference that took place in early April 2019 and was attended by approx. 200 Inspectors. [...] Arising from this, and as part of its 2019 control plan, the Department has now set a target of 8,000 employer inspections for this year. In 2018, the Department carried out just over 2,050 employer inspections.

That is nearly a quadrupling of inspections. As Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, I want to tell employers that there will be four times as many inspections of the records of employers' PRSI contributions in the future in order to ensure that people who are in employment are getting the benefit of the PRSI contributions to which they are entitled. The Department is stepping up those investigations. Some people will like that. It is important for the protection of employees. That took a long time. It is a big report. It is an example of the work we do. I want to quickly move on to-----