Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 11, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: "Report on assessment of self-employed people in receipt of Blind Pension and Disability Allowance

21.The Minister shall review the way in which self-employed people including Artists and people employed in creative industries are assessed regarding Blind Pension and Disability Allowance and the impact that income threshold limitations and assessment of grants and awards have on these payments for those workers and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection within 9 months of the enactment of this Act.".

This amendment is to do with assessment of self-employed people for receipt of the blind pension and disability allowance. If a person's spouse or co-habiting partner works, it can affect that person's eligibility. For PAYE workers, some of their income is not taken into account, but all the income of self-employed people is assessed under the means test. That can put people at a fairly significant disadvantage. Some who are self-employed have a very healthy income but others are not so well off. There might be artists or tradespeople, for instance, for whom the work is not there all the time and it is a case of feast or famine. The disregard that exists for income from employment should reasonably and fairly be considered for application also to the self-employed.