Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Senator Horkan, referred to class K PRSI.We brought in terms and conditions of employment in this very House which affect people's pensions and we did not take the time to examine what they were doing. We applied crude rules across the board and this has happened in several parts of the public service. With regard to abatement, ordinary individuals who retired from one part of the service and moved into another part of it cannot draw any element of their pension. I am one of them. It is okay if a person is on €65,000 a year but not if he or she is not. We need to look at how we treat employees in the public service as much as how we treat them in the private sector.

I have been in contact with the Minister's office regarding bogus self-employment and the response was amazingly fast. She showed huge commitment to rooting out bogus self-employment and I congratulate her on that. She did not sit about. As soon as she received my letter, she acted on it straight away and I thank her for that. I hope the Bill completes its passage through the House quickly.