Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
126. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection through investigations by her Department and a firm (details supplied) how many RTÉ workers were found to be on bogus self-employment contracts; and how many have now been placed on full employee contacts. [32975/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra128. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection in relation to information (details supplied) from an email I have received from RTÉ staff, if her Department has investigated these matters; and what were the conclusions of these investigations. [32976/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra152. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has completed a thorough investigation of bogus self-employment contacts in RTÉ; and if she is satisfied that no staff at RTÉ are still on a bogus self-employment contract. [32970/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 126, 128 and 152 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, there are different statutory bodies in place that make determinations on the employment status of a person for the purposes of PRSI, tax, and employment rights. My Department makes decisions in relation to PRSI; the Office of the Revenue Commissioners makes decisions in relation to tax; and the WRC determines employment status as a preliminary issue when adjudicating on employment rights issues.Employment status decisions are based on the criteria set out in the Code of Practice on Determining Employment Status and by reference to decided case law. The Code aims to be of benefit to employers, employees, independent contractors and legal, financial and HR professionals. It is also aimed at investigators, decision-makers and adjudicators in my Department, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the WRC, their respective appeals bodies, and the courts.The Code of Practice was updated in 2021 following work by my Department, the Revenue Commissioners, and the WRC. Other stakeholders such as ICTU and IBEC were consulted as part of this work.The criteria set out in the Code are applied by Deciding Officers in my Department on each occasion that they assess the insurability of a worker as being either an employee or self-employed. For that reason, the work is resource intensive. Investigations can be complex with a variety of issues to be considered.Where an engagement has been found to be misclassified by an employer for social insurance purposes, any arrears of PRSI are assessed on and payable by the employer. The worker's PRSI record is corrected and a compliance notice is issued to the employer. On foot of these compliance notices, the employer is required to pay the full arrears of Class A PRSI liability. My Department commenced an investigation in 2020 into the employment status of workers engaged by RTÉ on an independent contractor basis. This investigation is ongoing.The scale of my Department’s investigation in RTE is significant and involves retrospective analysis of the engagement of many workers. My Department will report on the outcome of the investigation upon completion. This will ensure equality of treatment for all parties involved and enable our officers to conduct a professional investigation in the normal manner.I trust that this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
