John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will try to be brief but this is an important issue. The Minister is aware that the joint committee, under its Chairman, Deputy Curran, has started a comprehensive consideration of bogus self-employment. Our first meeting was fascinating. It was with officials from the Department and they appeared to think that this is a non-issue and that it is not as extensive or rampant as is the case. There is plenty of evidence, including that of an anecdotal nature, dating back over many years. Reports indicate that bogus self-employment is costing the State €600 million in the context of the Social Insurance Fund. I am sure the Minister would love that money to be spent on social protection and other necessary measures. Of course, the people who are forced into bogus self-employment are missing out on the net that would be provided if they were engaged in proper employment, as they should have been from day one, and their entitlements to holiday pay, illness benefits and other benefits.

There are major issues here in terms of the State not doing what it should. There are massive State contracts for housing, schools and other infrastructure projects, with massive amounts of money going to major developers who are forcing people to register as self-employed. There have been instances where some companies have faced serious financial difficulty and ended up going into examinership, and the people who were forced into bogus self-employment arrangements have been stung for tens of thousands of euro, if not more, because when they go through the examiner procedure all they are ultimately offered is 3 cent in the euro. If they had been employed properly, however, they would have received all their entitlements. These are important issues.

One of the fascinating, and probably more worrying, things to emerge from our first engagement with the Department's officials is that while they acknowledge that inspections are happening, which is welcome and no more than what we should expect, they do not keep records. On the one hand, they say this is not an extensive practice but, on the other, the Department rolled out what has now proven to be a useless PR exercise during the summer. Even the officials would say that they were disappointed with the level of engagement from people in these arrangements. It certainly was not worth the money spent on it in terms of what the Department expected to get from it. However, it is a serious problem that the Department does not keep records in this regard. We know it happens in the construction sector but it also happens across the board, with even Ryanair pilots being forced into situations where they have to register as self-employed. It will be a huge and very useful piece of work for the committee.

Regarding the Department producing a report, I agree with Deputy Penrose that there are a lot of reports sought in the amendments. Unfortunately, however, our hands are tied in that we cannot bring forward amendments that will have a financial impact on the State. The Minister will be aware that People Before Profit has brought forward legislation to deal with bogus self-employment, so there is legislation available to tackle this serious problem immediately rather than us having to table amendments requesting reports on it. On Committee Stage, I asked the Minister if she had examined that legislation. Certainly, my party supports it fully. If the Minister is serious about addressing this matter, she would not just examine that legislation but move it forward to ensure this practice is stamped out immediately, that people who have been forced into bogus self-employment will get their full entitlements and that the State will get the PRSI contributions it should receive to be put into the areas where they are badly needed.

I support the amendment, although I would have preferred a six-month timeframe.

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