Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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43. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the first year and full-year cost of increasing the employer pay related social insurance rate of 8.5% from €376 to €377. [40856/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Currently the class A PRSI employer rate of 8.5% applies to weekly earnings between €38 and €356. Once weekly earnings exceed €356, the employer is liable to pay PRSI at 10.75%, on all earnings.

From 1 January 2016 the threshold for charging the higher 10.75% rate of employer PRSI will increase from €356 to €376. This measure will cost €6.9 million in a full year and will mean that an estimated 26,037 employers, currently paying the higher 10.75% rate, will move to the lower 8.5% rate of employer contribution.

This measure will address the concerns of the Low Pay Commission in relation to the impact of the minimum wage on small business costs. It ensures that employers with employees benefitting from the increase in the minimum wage will continue to attract the lower 8.5% rate of employer PRSI.

Increasing this threshold further from €376 to €377 would cost €0.3 million in the first year and in a full year.