Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions he will take before the end of this Dáil Éireann to prevent workers from being forced into bogus self-employment and forced self-employed contracts. [2067/16]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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As this Government's term in office draws to a close, the cancer of bogus self-employment still exists within the State - in the construction industry and many other sectors. It has hollowed out the working conditions of ordinary workers around the country. In some sectors, direct labour is becoming rarer and is also affecting the Government's tax income. Recently, the Labour Party stated in its manifesto that it will deal with this issue - not today though, but in the next Government. What can the Minister of State do in the next ten, 15 or 20 days of this Government to fix this problem?

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Tóibín for raising this issue. Ireland has a well-resourced and proactive labour inspectorate in the form of the Workplace Relations Commission. Inspections are undertaken on the basis of risk analysis which identifies certain sectors as a result of complaints received and on a routine basis. Where the inspection service receives complaints of bogus self-employment or bogus subcontracting, they are forwarded to the Revenue Commissioners or the Department of Social Protection's Scope section for investigation either solely by the recipient or jointly with the WRC.

In most cases, it will be clear whether an individual is employed or self-employed. Where there is doubt about the employment status of the individual, the relevant Departments and agencies will have regard to the code of practice for determining employment or self-employment status of Individuals. This code was drawn up and agreed in 2007 by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Business and Employers Federation.

The Workplace Relations Commission has statutory authority to share information with both Revenue and the Department of Social Protection. Such information sharing takes place regularly between the Workplace Relations Commission inspectors and their counterparts in these bodies. In cases of mutual interest, joint operations may also be carried out. This exchange and sharing of information is a valuable element of the inspection process and contributes to uncovering non-compliance in the areas covered by the relevant bodies.

Having looked at this issue very closely over the last period of time, I believe this area needs further examination and closer attention. I am concerned that the law has not kept pace with the phenomenon of what might be termed bogus self-employment, a phrase with which I have become familiar in recent times. I would like to have the time to respond to this issue in the short period of time we have left available in the parliamentary term but the parliamentary clock is ticking. I have said publicly in the past week or so that if a mandate is renewed by the Irish people in the coming weeks, the approach I would like to take is to root out bogus self-employment in certain areas of the economy where it has become an issue. I will do so primarily by reforming the legal definitions of employment status to include a test determining the status of employment in keeping with Revenue guidelines and in line with recent European Court of Justice judgments.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Lord give the workers rights but just not yet. There are 365,000 RTCs in the State and it is estimated that approximately 80% of them are bogus - in other words, they are workers who should be directly employed but are subcontracting. This means that employers get to shirk their responsibility with regard to the minimum wage, employer PRSI, illness benefit and jobseekers' benefit. The clock is ticking. This is not a new issue being raised today; I raised it in this Chamber when the Kishogue dispute was going on. I had to filibuster a committee for hours to get the Government to focus on it. These RTCs are being abused so frequently that job agencies are advertising roles in the construction industry for which people do not have to pay holiday or sick pay, give proper notice or deal with direct employment. The Kishogue workers were getting €5 per hour. They had to get up every morning at 6 o'clock, stand for months on end at the place of work and try to draw attention to their situation. They had to climb cranes to draw the attention of the Minister to this issue. The worst thing about it is that it was a State contract. The Department of Education and Skills was the ultimate employer in this. All the tools and elements of the State that the Minister of State said are there to police this problem did not police it in the case of Kishogue. The school was built before the Department of Social Protection made a ruling on it.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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We all know that responsibility for determining employment or self-employment status rests with the Revenue Commissioners and the Scope section of the Department of Social Protection. In cases I have dealt with in my constituency over the years, it has taken a considerable amount of time for the Scope section to deal with cases referred to it. Deputy Tóibín is quite right that in cases where bogus self-employment emerges, it is a case that the Exchequer can potentially lose considerable revenues owed to it in terms of the status of that individual, whether they are employed or self-employed. There are a range of different employment protections that would be forgone by somebody in a bogus self-employment situation. It is an area that I intend to address in a comprehensive way over the next period of time. As I said, the parliamentary clock is ticking. We have introduced a range of different industrial relations reforms over the last while, particularly over the last year and a half. It is an area that requires more attention and I intend to attend to it.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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ICTU has estimated that €600 million has been lost in taxation revenue since 2007, which is a multiple of the water charge income for the State. There are 27,000 sole traders paying approximately €2,886 in PRSI payments in an Exchequer year. Not only does this really hurt families in those sectors but it also hurts the income of the State. The Minister of State said that he intends to work on this. The major problem I have with the Labour Party's approach to many of these workers' rights areas is the inaction it has shown. When it came to zero-hour contracts, the Minister of State did not act but he commissioned a report. When it came to the Clerys tactical insolvency, the Minister of State did not act but is now commissioning the second report on that issue. The Minister of State is good with tea and sympathy, writing reports and being appalled but he is not good with action. Whatever promises he makes on workers' rights in the next month will be devalued by five years of inaction.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I do not trust one word that comes out of the mouth of Sinn Féin about employment rights, zero-hour contracts, low-hour contracts or anything else, when one considers the low-pay economy over which trade unionists say Sinn Féin presides in Northern Ireland. Consequently, I will not take lectures from it on its views on employment rights or the performance of the Labour Party in government on such rights. That is for others to decide. One will find that many others who are more expert in this area than Deputy Peadar Tóibín and who work on a daily basis with people to protect their employment rights and advance their agenda through trade unions are quite satisfied with the performance of the Labour Party in government, as well as with what it intends to do if returned to government. Based on the track record of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, I do not have much hope it would implement anything particularly strong for workers in the Republic were it to be successful in getting into government after the next general election. While I do not believe Sinn Féin wishes to be in government, that is another day's work.

It is also important to point out that during the recent Committee Stage debate on the Finance Bill the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, announced that there would shortly be public consultation on a range of issues related to employment practices and trends.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Consultation; a report.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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This was announced by the Minister.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Perhaps we should set up a committee to discuss it and somehow kick it down the road.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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From the point of view of the Exchequer, revenues forgone because of bogus self-employment arrangements will be reviewed and changes made in that regard.