I propose to take Questions Nos. 327 to 332, inclusive, together.
All workers pay PRSI on their earnings from employment. If an employee has earned income from self-employment, PRSI as a self-employed contributor is also payable on the profits from that self-employed activity as well as from any other unearned income the individual may have. Similarly a self-employed contributor (who is not an employee) pays PRSI on both earned and unearned income. However if an employee has unearned income only, there is no PRSI charge on the unearned income. Unearned income includes rental and investment income as well as income from dividends, deposits and savings and from overseas investments.
It is difficult to estimate the projected annual yield if PRSI was extended to all sources of unearned income including income from rental property, dividends, other investments and deposit interest for both self-employed and PAYE workers who currently may not be liable to pay PRSI on these streams of income. Based on 2009 data it is estimated that the additional yield could be in the region of €20m, of which a substantial part refers to rental income.
The Revenue Commissioners act as the Department of Social Protection’s agent in the collection of PRSI. Any proposal to deduct at source or withhold PRSI to be charged on streams of income which are currently exempt from PRSI would have to be discussed with the Commissioners to determine the viability of that mechanism of collection.
It is not possible to furnish the annual yield from 2007 to 2011 and the projected yield in 2012, in respect of various categories of unearned income including rental income, dividend income and deposit interest income, as this information is not disaggregated from Class S income generally.
One of my key goals in the Department is to reform the system of social protection to put it on a sounder financial footing in the future. One of the matters I am most concerned about is the deficit in the Social Insurance Fund. It is my intention to widen the PRSI income base to make certain types of unearned income, such as those outlined above, liable to PRSI. Any proposal to bring additional sources of income within the base on which PRSI is charged would have to be considered taking account of all of the implications, including the potential for providing access to additional social insurance entitlements.