Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House to take this debate. This must be very close to his own heart. I formally second Senator Nash's Bill.

The Minister of State is probably engaged in several conversations every day, every week and every month. He must hear about how young people, and not-so-young people, are suffering out there in the market. They are being forced into so-called self-employment, which is no more self-employment than is useful work like bin collection, lecturing in university or teaching. This bogus self-employment has been like a plague on society. It undermines people's rights to pensions, holidays and sick pay. It denies the State revenue from pay-related social insurance, PRSI, contributions, revenue which helps to ensure State services. Basically, it defrauds workers and the State. Bogus self-employment cheats us all, and that is very clear.

It is a race to the bottom. Only last week, I was talking to parents who were asking what the future held for their sons and daughters. They wondered how they would get a mortgage. Their children are tied into so-called self-employment. They might get 20 or 30 hours a week or they might get none at all because they are not deemed to be employed. However, they are carrying out a job as real as any in society.

We are not trying to roll back the clock. Enormous sacrifices were made by the citizens of this State during the recession and the period of austerity. Those same citizens are now being exploited. We have a responsibility in this House and in the Dáil to ensure that we build a legislative framework to support and protect workers.

I was struck in 2017 when RTÉ's "Drivetime" covered bogus self-employment. Its producers felt it was a responsibility, because they were covering bogus self-employment, that the first employer to be examined should be RTÉ itself. A statement was issued by at the time by RTÉ and the "Drivetime" journalist commented that the broadcaster was no better or worse than other media employers. Semi-State companies come before the Oireachtas to seek the support of taxpayers' money and for a statement like that to be issued is totally unacceptable. Is one saying that the cameraman who works on the plinth is not entitled to security of employment? If we do not move this Bill quickly through both Houses, we are saying as much to that very man and his family. He has no security, he may not have a pension and he may have absolutely no holiday rights. A blind eye was turned to this practice when it was limited to the construction sector but it goes far beyond that. It is now evident in IT. It is used by the very large multinationals that operate not too far from this location in the city, whose names I will not mention. Those young people working five or six days a week cannot get mortgages because they are deemed to be self-employed and do not have a regular income. They cannot move on with their lives, form families or purchase a house, all because they are deemed to be self-employed, though there is no truth to this. Bogus self-employment is as bad as if-and-when contracts, whereby a worker might have 35 hours one week, 20 hours the next week and five hours the week after that. How can one build a family, a society or a community if workers are treated in this manner?

I ask the Minister of State to make it his mission to ensure this legislation travels through both Houses as quickly as possible. I call on him to ensure that the families that make up his electorate in Clontarf and elsewhere have a future. I call on him to ensure they will not be duped into bogus self-employment. The current Taoiseach, when he was Minister for Social Protection, was photographed with a very large sign saying "Welfare cheats cheat us all". Bogus self-employment cheats us much more severely. It is a much worse crucifix on working people, who have very little future because of this plague, which affects many families across the country.

I will keep it brief. I ask the Minister of State to make sure that families in Clontarf and Marino are equally represented at the Cabinet table, to make sure their sons and daughters have a future in this country and to clamp down on the plague of bogus self-employment.