Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That action is taken by the individual worker. What I am saying is, that is not ideal. There should be a role for the WRC inspectors in this regard. I am going back a while now to 2006 and the negotiation of the Towards 2016 national wage agreement.

I think 90 inspectors were recommended at that stage but we are not yet up to that and the workforce has increased massively. Even if it were to be the WRC inspectors, they would still have an awful lot on their plate.

This comes back to compliance. There are certain sectors where bogus self-employment is an issue, especially construction. It is a way for certain employers, albeit not all, to get around the SEO. Will the Minister of State give consideration to having inspections carried out on site by Revenue and the Department of Social Protection, as the relevant authorities? I understand that strays outside of her Department but those are the relevant statutory bodies that would do it. One surefire way for an employer to get around the SEO is by means of bogus self-employment and it does not seem to be policed well. Construction is one sector where this has been an issue and my party colleague Senator Gavan will be aware of it as well. It was an issue when we were working in the union and it remains one now. Should consideration be given to this and would the Minister of State consider making that recommendation to her colleagues?