Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, to come to the House to explain his new ideas for the self-employed, and the findings of the survey conducted last year of 20,000 self-employed people? We all heard the new advertisement on the radio for the extra services that self-employed people are entitled to on the S class stamp, such as dental and eye benefit and disability pension. We want to move this forward. It is in the programme for Government and I am sure that everybody who is canvassing and knocking on doors meets self-employed people who ask what they done for them. This is a major issue that has been left for many years.

We have come a long way for the self-employed so we should finish the job. The elephant in the room is whether we make this contribution class, the S stamp, voluntary or mandatory. I would like to see a mandatory contribution but I am happy to go with the flow once we get something up and running because we cannot leave it the way it was during the crash when the self-employed were left to the wolves. They paid their VAT, tax and PRSI and when they needed help, there was no help from the State. They had to go and beg for food so that they and their families would survive. I do not want to see that happening ever again in this State. Let us get protection for the 340,000 self-employed people in this country for the first time through the Department of Social Protection. I hope the Leader will be able to bring the Minister to the House after Easter and start the ball rolling with a good debate. We need to make a start to put measures in place for the next budget.