Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The public services card predates my time in the Department. I welcome the fact this case has been settled. It is a good outcome for everybody. In fairness, that has been acknowledged by both the Department and the Data Protection Commissioner in recent days. My priority and, ultimately, the priority of the Government is to ensure that people can access services in an efficient way. The settlement means that the Department can still process and issue PSCs for people to use. It means that more than 3.5 million people who have a card can continue to use it for transacting with Departments and public bodies. This has been vital during Covid and the fact people had the card meant they were able to go online and avail of services.

It is important to point out that people can still use their card to avail not only of social welfare services, but also myGov.ieand the many online services available throughout the public service. To give some context,myGov.ie has been used 21 million times this year by people accessing online public services. That is the single most important issue here, namely, ensuring there will be no impact for those customers so they can access those services in the exactly the same way they did last week. For anybody who does not want to use a PSC, there must be an alternative option. That is in place because Government policy is that there should always be an offline option for people who do not want or who are unable to go online. Any actions that are required by my Department or other bodies will be acted upon.

With regard to bogus self-employment, it is important to note that self-employment is a perfectly legitimate and vital feature of the economy, with more than 330,000 people employed in this way. It is also the case there is no compelling evidence that false self-employment is as widespread as some suggest. That said, false self-employment exists and, as such, is a matter that I and the Department take very seriously. I do not want to see a situation where any workers are denied their social insurance entitlements or where much-needed funds are denied to the depleted Social Insurance Fund. The deliberate misclassification of a worker as a self-employed contractor for PRSI purposes is wrong. The Social Welfare Consolidation Act contains a specific offence relating to the return of employment contributions which, on conviction, can result in fines and-or imprisonment.

Ultimately, there is no silver-bullet solution that will completely eradicate false self-employment. The best way is to tackle it through inspection, compliance and deterrence. The Department has significantly increased its employer inspections in recent years through its network of 380 social welfare inspectors nationwide. It also established the employment status inspection unit in mid-2019 comprising six inspectors focused solely on detecting false self-employment. This unit has carried out hundreds of employment and status investigations in a wide range of sectors, including construction, meat processing, language training and the media.

False self-employment does not always involve a deliberate or fraudulent misclassification of an employee. Sometimes, it happens that both the employer and employee are genuinely mistaken in their approach and are happy to correct the position once departmental officials have made a determination. Therefore, it is vital that employers and workers have clear information and guidance when considering employment status. That is why I put great value on the code of practice on determining employment status. We have recently updated the code to reflect the modern world of work and to reflect the legislation and case law that has emerged from various court cases over the years.

If Members are aware of bogus self-employment, they should bring it to the attention of my officials and they will check it out and investigate it. If it is fraud, it is wrong. It should not be happening and it is not right that people are put into a position where they are forced to be self-employed and not employees. If people know of any of those situations, let me know about it.