Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 279: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of complaints received in relation to employers not paying PRSI for their employees for the following years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009; the action taken on foot of these complaints; the sanctions that have been applied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35410/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's Inspectorate, appointed under Section 250 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, is responsible, inter alia, for ensuring that employers and self-employed people comply with the Act in relation to Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions. Employer compliance, in this regard, is monitored through employer enquiries and inspections which include detailed examinations of employers' records to ensure that correct PRSI payments are being made in respect of all employees. Where PRSI undercharges are confirmed, the Inspector sets out the PRSI arrears or underpayment in respect of each employee for each tax year and issues a demand to the employer for payment. Should the employer fail to respond satisfactorily, a statutory demand will issue by registered post and the employer given 14 days to respond. If the employer fails to respond, the case is considered for prosecution.

Employer enquiries on PRSI compliance can be referred either by a customer or by a Department official where irregularities on a customer's record are identified. Where an employee notifies the Department that his or her employer has not been remitting PRSI on their behalf, or where an irregularity in a customer's PRSI record is detected at claim processing stage, the case is referred to a Social Welfare Inspector to enquire into the matter. Details of the number of employer enquiries made by the Department in the years 2005-2009 are set out in the following table 1. The number of cases where PRSI undercharges were confirmed is included. The Department does not hold system records on the source of the complaint.

Table 1 – Employer Enquiries 2005-2009

Employer enquiries may lead to an employer inspection. Details of the number of Employer PRSI Inspections/investigations for the years 2005 – 2009 are set out in the following table 2:

Table 2 – Employer Inspections 2005-2009

Table 3 – Employer cases finalised in court 2005-2009

# 1 case fined also received a suspended sentence

* Probation of Offenders Act

The Department is committed to ensuring that employers comply with their statutory obligations, thereby ensuring that employees do not suffer a delay in securing any social welfare entitlements and contributions to the Social Insurance Fund are made in an accurate and timely manner.