Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1081. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 653 of 17 September 2019, the reason data regarding decisions made on employment and self-employment cannot be provided; the reason it is unavailable; her plans to improve record keeping in view of the fact a significant amount of important data is not being quantified; if she will consider tracking such cases by sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45027/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The historic database used in the Scope Section of my Department prior to 2018 did not provide data regarding decisions made on employment and self-employment status. Since then, a new system has been introduced. The new system records and categorises, in a more specific way, the different types of cases handled by Scope Section, including those dealing with employment status. A breakdown of such cases was provided to the Deputy on 17 September 2019.

As the Deputy will be aware, I have reallocated resources in my Department to tackling the issue of false self-employment. In addition to tackling it, I intend to measure and better quantify its prevalence across the workforce, and any sectoral characteristics that may pertain to it.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.