Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The 2007 code of practice contained new criteria to help determine whether a worker was an employee or a self-employed contractor. Obviously, the code is inadequate now. That initiative has not served those workers well. This is why Senator Nash's Bill adopted an holistic approach. Surely the approach taken to address the issue should be across government, with the Department of Finance taking the opportunity to ensure the penalties imposed are proportionate to the offence, that being, forcing people into an area of work where they are deprived of significant benefits and rights. In whatever the Minister introduces, there should be a whole-of-government approach. That is why our Bill adopted an holistic approach to the determination and classification of employment status and would have put in law a clear set of rules that applied to all State bodies and were enforceable in courts and administrative tribunals. This is an opportunity for a whole-of government approach to rid us once and for all of this blight, which has bedevilled a number of industries and is spreading to others. I compliment the Minister on taking an objective view and forcing this issue onto the agenda.

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