Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of bogus or phoney self-employment whereby, as a condition of getting work, somebody is forced to become self-employed or to form a company. It means the person's employer does not pay social insurance and that the person has very little protection in terms of labour law.

When I was Minister and Tánaiste, I set up a group drawn from the Departments of Social Protection and Finance to look at the issue. My understanding is that the work on that has been complete for some time. There was a public consultation process which ended well over a year ago and I understand the information is to hand.

This issue of phoney self-employment involves a very significant number of people, including many low-paid and poor people. I want to know why both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Social Protection are refusing to publish this report.

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