Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

It is important for the facts of the matter to be put before this House and the community for consideration and reflection. We need industrial peace. It obviously just cannot be paid at any price, but what happened last weekend shows there is a recognition at the top of the trade union movement that progress must be made and that common sense must prevail. We have to recognise that at the bottom of the spectrum, those low paid workers who unfairly suffered an income cut in the last budget are looking to have their income restored. We in this House must lead and recognise that progress will unfortunately be slow.

I support Senator O'Toole's point on spouses' pensions for self-employed persons. The treatment of self-employed persons, be they working up front or in the home, is not sufficient. At a time when we are trying to generate economic activity and where we are trying to encourage some people to become self-employed, we have to look at how self-employed people are treated for social insurance purposes. We are not just talking about old age pensions and spouses' pensions here. If a self-employed person becomes ill, he or she does not qualify for any social welfare benefit under the contributory schemes. He or she does not qualify for disability benefit or invalidity benefit. If the business shuts down, the person does not qualify for unemployment benefit. We need to look at how social insurance schemes apply to the self-employed. It needs to be changed if we are to encourage more people to become self-employed.