Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the Revenue Commissioners have changed the status of persons who carry out translation services from self employed non PAYE workers to PAYE workers in view of the uncertainty of workload and the fact that each person is a subcontractor in their own right; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33512/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that the question of whether an individual providing translation services — or any other services — is engaged under either a contract of service (i.e. an employee) or a contract for service (i.e. self-employed) is a question of fact and of general law. Regardless of how the parties to an engagement may describe themselves, all the relevant factors (including written, oral and implied details) that bear on the relationship between the parties must be examined, given their proper weight and a decision made on their overall effect.

To provide some clarity as to whether an individual is employed or self-employed, the Employment Status Group (set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness) published a Code of Practice for determining Employment or Self-employment status of Individuals. As the Deputy may be aware, under Towards 2016 — The Ten Year Framework Social Partnership Agreement, a commitment was given to the Social Partners that the regulatory bodies (i.e. the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA)) would be active in the area of correctly establishing the status — employed or self-employed — of individuals. Arising from this, the Code of Practice was re-launched by the Social Partners in December 2007 and re-issued to all employers in early 2008.

In addition, I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that cases come to their attention wherein individuals have been incorrectly classified (either by the individuals or by the person engaging those individuals) as self-employed in relation to a particular engagement. If, on an examination of the facts and circumstances and having regard for the Code of Practice referred to above, Revenue find that individuals are, in fact, employees rather than self-employed contractors, Revenue will notify the person engaging those individuals to register for, and operate, the PAYE system on payments made to those individuals.

Depending on the facts and circumstances of a case, an individual may be a full time employee, a part-time employee, a temporary employee or a casual employee. The fact that individuals may not have continual work does not, of itself, make such individuals self-employed contractors.