Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 34:

In page 145, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:“Bogus self-employment

62. Within 6 months of the passing of this act the Minister shall prepare a report on the scale of bogus self-employment and measures that can be taken to prevent same.”.

This relates to some of our discussions on the section 481 tax relief and, more generally, the problem of bogus self-employment. In the short time available to me, I will put it to the Minister this way. It is an incredible fact that there are workers, such as pilots, construction workers and film workers, who are fighting to pay tax but are being prevented from doing so. When we discuss tax reliefs, we usually refer to people who do not want to pay tax, avoid it and make lots of profit, but there is a cohort of working people who are fighting for the right to pay tax and are being frustrated in their ability to secure employment where they pay tax. If they secured employment and, instead of being falsely classified as contractors or freelancers, were classified as PAYE workers, as they want to be, then everyone would gain. They would get some sort of security and continuity of employment and Revenue would gain additional tax income.

It would be a win-win situation except for certain classes of company, employer and so on who would rather not have to take responsibility for their employees, pay PRSI or pension contributions, pay sick pay and holiday pay and so forth and are instead deliberately playing the system. It gets even worse. Many of these companies that are trying to force bogus self-employment on people are in receipt of large sums of public money. We have discussed the film industry at length. There are protests under way on Gardiner Street in the Minister's constituency - I have not been able to attend it this week because I have been so busy in here - where building workers at St. Mary's Mansions are fighting for direct employment on an approved housing body, AHB, site where social housing is being constructed. Subbies are bringing people down who are working as bricklayers and classified as contractors despite in reality being employees. There are workers outside the gate who are fighting for direct employment as PAYE workers. That situation is wrong.

In all of these situations, be it in Ryanair, the film industry, the construction sector or other sectors, we need clear definitions of an employee. They are not difficult to devise. Does someone set people's working hours, tell them when to go on lunch and pay them certain moneys for certain hours? If so, then they are employees. They are not contractors or businesses. Revenue needs to go into these places, be they in the film industry or construction industry, and say that someone will be classified and taxed as a PAYE worker.

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