Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Is this because we make it unnecessarily complex and put all sorts of little things in them, as opposed to the system fundamentally charging a certain percent and fixed percentages being plumbed into the computer to get the answers? I agree with Mr. O'Brien. I look at the number of PRSI rates and I believe the whole thing should be rationalised down. There are myriad complications. If people had to do it manually, it would be absolutely mind-boggling. At least computers tend to do it nowadays for people. It is unnecessarily complicated as a system. There are too many rates of PRSI and there is no question about it. There are also too many classes of PRSI. Effectively all workers earning over a certain ceiling should pay a particular rate and get paid back by the State accordingly. Perhaps the witnesses can give us more detail on why those in Britain are saying that it is administratively complicated. Could we have a better system than they have and one with fewer crinkles in it?