Employment Rights

Tuesday, 2 December 2025

Ceisteanna (190)

Paul Lawless

Ceist:

190. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he will conduct an urgent review of a company's model (details supplied) to determine if the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisees/subcontractors constitutes de facto employment; and the steps which will be taken to ensure workers in similar models are afforded full employee rights and protections for example, redundancy and minimum notice in the event of future corporate insolvencies. [67662/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment

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).

Where an employee considers their employment rights have been breached they may refer a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for adjudication. 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, when adjudicating on employment rights complaints.