John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A couple of weeks ago before the social protection committee, the Minister said she hoped to bring this report to a sub-committee of the Cabinet. Has that happened? We know there is much money lost to Revenue and through potential social insurance contributions. The overall loss to the Exchequer could be €80 million.

The Minister also touched on inspections being carried out by the Department but I ask for specifics on that. I am not sure what exactly officials or inspectors from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection are looking for when they go into check this type of employment, whether it is on a building site or elsewhere. Perhaps in the first instance they check if somebody is in receipt of a jobseeker's payment and working as well. That does not cut to the chase. There are people who are forced into self-employment who are losing out on their entitlements as an employee. For example, they should be entitled to sick pay, holiday pay and all the other entitlements that go along with that. It is a serious problem not just in the construction industry, as I stated, but in other areas.

How many of these inspections have been carried out and in what type of employment? Have they just targeted the construction industry? Have they gone to places such as RTÉ, for example, and what exactly are the inspectors looking for? I would like more specifics on the inspectors.

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