Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I wonder if the Minister is aware of the scale of the problem. In recent years, a significant number of people were forced to become self-employed. In many cases self-employment is not a matter of choice. For example, it has been difficult to secure regular employment in the building industry because contractors have insisted that those working for them are treated as being self-employed. Similar conditions applied in the information technology industry.

In the current economic circumstances, where work has dried up in many sectors, it is completely unrealistic for a deciding officer to consider a person's means to be his or her income from the previous year. People seek assistance at social welfare offices because they cannot secure employment and work has dried up. Last week, the Minister spoke of showing solidarity to the unemployed. The people to whom I refer find themselves without income and, unfortunately, unable to access support from the Department. While the circumstances I describe do not apply in all social welfare offices, deciding officers in certain offices are still using the old method of assessing a person's means. Under this approach, a person's income from the previous year is considered as applicable for the current year. This method is completely unrealistic in the current circumstances.

Does the Minister accept that the problem I describe is real? If so, will she issue new guidelines to deciding officers to take account of the changed economic circumstances and provide some level of support to self-employed people who find themselves without income?

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