Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

We are all aware that the social welfare safety net in this country is under huge strain at the moment. One of the holes in the net is an idiosyncracy whereby self-employed people get either very little or nothing when they lose their jobs or their companies close. Like other Deputies, I have constituents in Wicklow and east Carlow whose businesses have folded but who are getting nothing from the State. They do not get the dole or what PAYE workers get and they are struggling to find money to buy food for their children. They are in an extraordinarily vulnerable situation. Does the Government intend to address this in the upcoming finance Bill or social welfare Bill? If it is in the social welfare Bill, when might we expect to see it?

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