Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
438. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if his Department or the WRC has examined whether the Karshan Disclosure Opportunity undermines workers’ EU-derived rights under Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Directive 2003/88/EC, in view of its exclusion of historic misclassification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6576/26]
View answer439. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if her Department was consulted prior to the launch of the Karshan Disclosure Opportunity; if it provided any assessment of its impact on PRSI entitlements or arrears; and if her Department has agreed to accept manual PRSI records generated under the scheme as valid contributions for benefit or pension purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6577/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 438 and 439 together.
In Ireland, there are a number of statutory bodies whose remit includes determining the employment status of a person. Each of these bodies make their determinations independently of each other in respect of the particular functions for which they are responsible. While Revenue has responsibility for determination of employment status of a worker for taxation purposes, responsibility for determination of employment status of a worker for PRSI purposes falls to the Department of Social Protection (DSP).
Following the Supreme Court’s judgment in ‘The Revenue Commissioners v Karshan (Midlands) Ltd. t/a Domino’s Pizza’ , I understand that the Revenue Commissioners are providing employers with an opportunity to correct any payroll tax issues in respect of 2024 and where relevant, 2025. This disclosure opportunity represents a targeted Revenue response to the Supreme Court’s clarification of employment status principles and facilitates employer compliance for the 2024–2025 period on favourable terms.
The impact of Revenue’s disclosure opportunity on PRSI contributions is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Mr. Dara Calleary, T.D., to address.
With regard to EU-derived and national employment rights, the adjudication service of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) may determine employment status as a preliminary issue when adjudicating on employment rights complaints. The WRC makes their determination independently of the other statutory bodies.
The Labour Court and the WRC are independent statutory offices under the aegis of my Department. The WRC’s functions include adjudication, mediation, conciliation, information provision, and inspection of employer records for compliance. The Labour Court is the court of last resort in industrial relations disputes and the sole appellate body in employment rights cases. Whether a person is an employee under employment rights legislation may be determined by the WRC’s Adjudication Service and the Labour Court (on appeal), as a preliminary issue, and in such cases, the current law is applied and where employment status is an issue, the Karshan ruling is one of the factors considered and applied where appropriate.
