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

I hear what the Deputy is saying and while I do not wish to be disrespectful to him, it goes so far as to address the issue of those who are being forced to declare as self-employed, but many choose to be self-employed for a variety of reasons, including the flexibility offered by working for one company one month and another for three months or receiving a higher premium for working on a contract. These companies are not paying into the Social Insurance Fund and not doing anything wrong, but we are still not getting money from them for the State to pay benefits to the people who are self-employed to whom, as the Deputy is aware, they are being extended under the social insurance scheme. There are a number of things we could do and we should look at them collectively. One particular piece of legislation is only going to crack one nut. This is a bigger issue. However, we must be cognisant of the fact that there are new forms of work and that we need to encourage people into them as an entry level for young people in order that they can do so while in college and then move to proper careers once they qualify. However, we also need to make sure they retain the same employment rights as everyone else in a standard working environment.

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