Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. She has been consistent in her position. She said the same thing to me in her reply on Second Stage on 12 February 2018. We are trying to find a way to stamp out this egregious practice. We all know that rogue employers and tax cheats in many ways only understand one language, which is the language of serious penalties, fines and sanctions up to and including imprisonment if they fall foul of tax laws when avoiding or evading tax. These penalties are imposed on people convicted in that context. It beggars belief that we do not have similar enforcement measures for those who are avoiding their PRSI obligations. While the situation in respect of the PRSI Social Insurance Fund has improved in recent years as employment has grown, we need those resources to fund our benefits system.

The only language people involved in these kinds of practices understand is being hit in the pocket. I understand what the Minister is driving at with respect to the nuances around the tax code, tax Acts and the application of PRSI. I get that, but we are trying to find a way in which serious penalties can be imposed on bad employers who engage in these kinds of practices. I believe the Minister understands that. Given her opposition to this Bill, I would like to hear a little from her about how she intends to penalise employers who engage in these kinds of practices, who break the law, who deceive the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and who do not operate on a level playing pitch. There are good employers out there who are compliant, who pay their tax, and who engage their staff on decent contracts. They do so for all kinds of reasons but primarily it is because they want to run a good business and to be on the right side of the law. Those who are queering the pitch and who are responsible for this are bad businesspeople and should be treated in the same way as tax cheats because, in many ways, that is the only language they understand. I would be very interested to hear how the Minister would enforce a system of penalisation against employers involved in these kinds of practices. What is her vision in that regard?