2 DFómh 2012, 18:14
The Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection will tomorrow meet with senior officials from the Department of Social Protection to discuss the social insurance entitlements of the self-employed. The officials will also brief the Committee on measures to integrate people with disabilities into the workplace.
2 October 2012
The Committee will then hear from the Self Employed Alliance Dundalk, an activist group of self-employed citizens campaigning for the same access to unemployment assistance as PAYE workers.
Committee Chair Joanna Tuffy TD says: “The Committee looks forward to considering the difficulties of the jobless self-employed in accessing social protection, highlighted by a number of Committee Members. The Committee will seek to explore with Department Officials how a pathway can be found to ensure the apparent inequalities in the system can be addressed.
“The session with the Self Employed Alliance Dundalk, which was suggested by Committee Member Ray Butler TD, will afford the Committee the opportunity to hear from a sample of some self-employed citizens who have endured considerable hardship in the economic downturn. The Dundalk group will argue that company owners, who made huge sacrifices in building up their businesses, should get the same entitlements to social welfare as their employees on becoming unemployed.
“The Department Officials will also brief the Committee on measures to integrate those with disabilities into the workplace. The Department has recently assumed responsibilities in this area which were previously looked after by FÁS. The Committee will wish to explore how the range of programmes support the active participation in the workforce of those with disabilities.”
The meeting takes place in Committee Room 3, LH 2000 at 10 am tomorrow Wednesday 3 October. Committee proceedings can be viewed online via this link: http://bit.ly/24YmPI
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +353 1 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies:
James Bannon, Fine Gael
Ray Butler, Fine Gael
Áine Collins, Fine Gael
Joan Collins, People Before Profit
Seán Crowe, Sinn Féin
Clare Daly, Independent
Simon Harris, Fine Gael
Charlie McConalogue, Fianna Fáil
Nicky McFadden, Fine Gael
Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Fine Gael
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Labour Party (Vice Chair)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Willie O’Dea, Fianna Fáil
Brendan Ryan, Labour Party
Joanna Tuffy, Labour Party (Chair)
Senators:
Jim D’Arcy
Fidelma Healy Eames
Marie Moloney
Marie Louise O’Donnell
Averil Power
Diarmuid Wilson