Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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143. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to introduce more supports for self-employed persons, such as access to illness benefit and unemployment benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40303/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Self-employed persons who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year are liable for PRSI at the class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum payment of €500. These contributions entitle them to access social insurance benefits, including State pension (contributory), widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s pension (contributory), guardians payment (contributory), maternity benefit and adoptive benefit. This contrasts with a combined employer and employee PRSI rate of 14.75% paid in respect of most employees, who can then access the full range of social insurance benefits.

Self-employed workers who become unemployed or ill can establish entitlement to assistance-based payments such as jobseeker’s allowance or disability allowance. In the case of jobseeker’s allowance they can apply for the means-tested jobseeker’s allowance if their business ceases or if they are on low income as a result of a downturn in demand for their services. As in the case of a non-self-employed claimant for jobseeker’s allowance or disability allowance, the means of husband/wife, civil partner or co-habitant will be taken into account in deciding on entitlement to a payment.

Any person formerly self-employed who meets the criteria for, and is in receipt of, jobseeker’s allowance is eligible for schemes such as the JobBridge intern scheme, SOLAS work placement programme, back to education allowance, short term enterprise allowance and the back to work enterprise allowance. Receipt of means tested payments can confer automatic entitlement or allow access to a range of secondary benefits, including the medical card, rent or mortgage interest supplement, the household benefits package, free travel, fuel allowance back to school clothing and footwear allowance and school books grant scheme.

In its 2013 report, the Advisory Group on Tax and Social examined issues relating to the provision of social insurance cover for the self-employed on a cost-neutral or cost-reducing context.

The Group was not convinced that there was a need to extend cover for jobseeker’s benefit to the self-employed as almost 9 out of every 10 self-employed people who claimed the means tested jobseeker’s allowance during the three-year period from 2009 to 2011 received payment. The Group did, however, find that extending social insurance for the self-employed was warranted, in cases related to long term sickness or injuries, through the invalidity pension and the partial capacity benefit schemes.

In this regard the Group recommended that the rate of contribution for class S should be increased by at least 1.5 percentage points. Based on the 2010 report on the Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund an increase in the region of 17% would be required for the core contributory State pension plus invalidity pension for the self-employed. This takes account of the 15% needed to provide the core full-rate State pension.

While I am anxious to expand the level of social insurance entitlements for the self-employed, any such change would have to be funded by an appropriate level of contribution.