Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 20 Oct 1992

Vol. 423 No. 8

Written Answers. - PRSI Scheme.

Roger T. Garland

Ceist:

221 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason part-time workers have been excluded from the PRSI exemption scheme for employers; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that employers must pay full PRSI on all workers earning £25 per week; that many sole traders begin by employing one part-timer and expanding from that base; his views on whether these very small businesses would be helping by including all part-timers earning £25 per week and over in this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Welfare (Mr. McCreevy)

The purpose of the PRSI exemption scheme is to encourage employers to take on additional employees from the Live Register. It is a condition of the scheme that the job should be for at least 20 hours per week.

The scheme is directed primarily at giving an incentive to employers to provide full-time job opportunities for unemployed people. I am not satisfied that the same level of incentive is required in the case of employers taking on part-time workers. Furthermore, if the exemption were extended to all part-time workers, the cost of the scheme would escalate without a corresponding direct effect on the Live Register.