Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the improvements in the budget as regards PRSI for self-employed persons, although we are starting from a low base. When the crash came, employees were rightly able to get supports. They had paid in, as had their employers. However, a self-employed person with a van – a plasterer, welder, fitter, block layer or whatever – got nothing. While I accept that a lower rate has been introduced in recent budgets and self-employed people are getting some benefits, perhaps they should be given the option of paying the same level of PRSI for themselves as they do for their one, ten or 20 employees so that they can avail of supports. Anything can happen and it might have nothing to do with them. Their spouses or someone else in the family could get seriously injured. They could get seriously injured themselves. They could have an accident in their only vehicle. There are all sorts of unforeseen circumstances. Self-employed people are the country’s enablers. We need them to build our houses and for the wider economy. We need to be fair to them. It should not be up to Deputies Creed and Sherlock, who are leaving the House. All of us, including the Minister, should put our shoulders to the wheel to ensure that people who serve in the Houses and pay class K PRSI get the benefits to which they are entitled.

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