Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising the issue. We did not merely intend to launch the campaign he mentions, we actually did so over the weekend. It would be welcome were everyone, both inside and outside this House, to encourage people to contact us if they believe they are in a self-employed status not through their own making. To answer the Deputy's specific question, no industry is excluded. We are trying to reach people who are registered as self-employed not through their own choice. I have not received a meeting request from the people to whom the Deputy is referring. If he asks them to contact me, I am happy to meet anybody but I believe the people to whom he refers are employees in the main, as opposed to being made self-employed, and may have difficulties with regard to their conditions. The Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court are in place to assist those people. The new legislation, which we are bringing to Committee Stage on 17 May unless I am mistaken, should further strengthen employment rights for those who are on precarious and low-paid contracts.

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