I will refer to a number of points mentioned by Members. Senator Fitzgerald answered some of the points made by Senator Cregan in relation to share fishermen. This scheme will cover share fishermen who share the proceeds of a boat, not part-time fishermen. It is not a measure to deal with part-time workers, but with fishermen who share a boat's catch. As Senator Fitzgerald correctly pointed out, this issue arose as a result of a long standing case taken by the Revenue Commissioners. The Department of Social Welfare is providing social welfare protection and entitlements for this group of fishermen following the court's decision. This move was not initiated by the Department of Social Welfare.
The Bill permits share fishermen to be treated as self-employed. The point was made, and Senator Daly also referred to this, that there are different views in the fishing industry as to whether its workers are self-employed or if, particularly among the larger boats, there is a contract of employment. As I said, the Department of Social Welfare has taken the advice of the Attorney General in relation to this matter. However, there is not unanimity in the fishing industry as to what the situation should be. This Bill extends to share fisheremen the same conditions, entitlements and responsibilities as apply to self-employed people.
In relation to Senator Daly's comments about the pension entitlements of share fishermen, they are now compulsorily covered as self-employed people. However, I accept his point that many spouses are not aware of the responsibilities of their self-employed spouse and if they die they may leave their survivor or family without cover. As a result, the Department is developing its information section and Senator Daly was involved in this when he was Minister. We are trying to make people more aware of their responsibilities and entitlements and what the system can do for them and their families if they pay into it and if they need income support from the Department of Social Welfare. We will examine how this can be advertised to reach the spouses of fishermen who are not accepting their responsibilities under the scheme.
Senator Cregan made comments about fraud and I appreciate his detailed knowledge about how business works. Although I am a member of the Labour Party, I have also been involved in business. I am sure Senator Cregan will appreciate there are two consequences if employers do not meet their responsibilities by complying with PRSI and taxation requirements. The first is that they have an unfair competitive advantage over other employers and can underbid and undercut them. This is not in the economic interests of the country or certain sectors or regions, one good reason to ensure compliance. The second consequence is that where employers fail to comply with requirements in relation to paying social insurance reductions, employees, who have had a long period of employment in a company, may discover that moneys were not paid when they were due which jeopardises their entitlements. Senator McGennis referred to such cases.
We cannot do enough to stamp out fraud by employers, there are a limited amount of social welfare resources which must be targeted at those most in need. We must leave no stone unturned to ensure there is no abuse of the system.
Section 14 does not relate to share fishermen. It relates to certain prescribed industries, particularly the construction industry, forestry and others where abuse has been established by inspectors from the Department of Social Welfare and where it is important for employers to maintain records on site about all employees to deter fraud. Everyone should be in the PRSI and tax systems so that the burden may be shared fairly and that when people experience periods of unemployment or illness and reach old age they will have their entitlements.
I welcome the comments by a number of Senators about the volunteer development workers. When I worked in Africa for three years I was lucky to get leave of absence so that I had a job to come back to. However, many young volunteers, particularly nurses and teachers, are not in the same position. I take the points made by Senator Magner and Senator Daly that we should examine how the valuable experience which people have gained in developing countries may be used to make such volunteers attractive to employers. Volunteers who go abroad often live in remote areas and they take responsibility at a young age for substantial development programmes.
Senator Daly knows they have huge responsibilities in remote regions. They must deal with natural catastrophes, local governments, national governments, various issues such as planning and, as Senator Magner said, local Irish embassies and their personnel. It is a fantastic experience in terms of building up independence, self reliance and a vast human resourcefulness in people who work in this area.
It is a valuable resource. I accept we should look at ways of using these people when they come home and we should ensure that their period abroad qualifies them for whatever employment opportunities are available on their return. This is preferable to acting as a disincentive, whereby when they went away they were viewed as having disappeared for three years.
Regarding the comments by Senator McGennis, and alluded to by Senator Cregan, in relation to lone parents, the reason I raised this matter is because there has been considerable medial coverage, especially in the UK, of lone parents. They have been subjected, to some extent, to a campaign of vilification. I wish to put the facts about lone parents on the record as I am aware many Senators are interested in this issue. According to our survey, a high proportion, some 60 per cent, of lone parents return to employment, marry or go on to do other things. They do not remain permanently dependent on social welfare.
Nevertheless, we must be concerned, as I said, about very young lone parents, because they are most at risk of long term dependency on social welfare. The various moves by the Department of Social Welfare in opening up schemes fully to lone parents, for example VTOS schemes, have been hugely popular, as Senator McGennis said. The responce has been enormous. This is the best way of giving somebody an options and an opportunity to get back into employment and independence. The Department of Social Welfare is anxious to expand this whole area.
Senator Daly referred to the extension of the share fishermen scheme to people involved in aquaculture. This matter will be examined by my Department, with consideration given to the Senator's comments today.
In the absence of Senator Fitzgerald, I commented on section 14 of the Bill. This section does not apply to share fishermen. It is concerned with certain industries, such as the building industry, construction industry and forestry where there have been some problems, as the Senator may be aware, in relation to contractors, subcontractors and so on.