Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 March 2013
101. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance his views on the criteria used by Revenue to determine if a person engaged in work for one organisation is an employee of that organisation or qualifies legitimately to be a contractor. [15444/13]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, there is no single test that can be used to determine the status (employed or self-employed) of individuals. Simply because an individual is described as a “contractor” does not necessarily mean that such individual is a self-employed contractor.
Depending on the facts and circumstances of a case, an individual may be a full-time employee, a part-time employee, a temporary employee, a casual employee or, indeed, may be self-employed.
The question of whether an individual is engaged under either a contract of service (i.e. an employee) or a contract for services (i.e. self-employed) is a question of fact and of general law. Regardless of how the parties to an engagement may describe themselves, all the possible factors (including written, oral and implied details) that bear on the relationship between the parties must be examined, given their proper weight and a decision made on their overall effect. To try to provide some clarity as to whether an individual is employed or self-employed, the Employment Status Group (set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness) published a Code of Practice for determining Employment or Self-employment status of Individuals (updated in June 2010).
My officials inform me that this Code of Practice is not solely a Revenue document but was compiled in conjunction with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Department of Social Protection, the Small Firms Association, the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and my Department. Of course, at the end of the day, the Code of Practice is for guidance only and the status (employed or self-employed) of an individual in relation to an engagement may, in some instances, have to be determined by the Courts.
The purpose of the Code of Practice “is to eliminate misconceptions and provide clarity ”. I am of the view that it is of great assistance in the determination processes employed by the State.
