“Government Ministers have many questions to answer arising from information I have obtained from parliamentary questions showing that the GAMA Construction Company received 1,416 exemptions from payment of Social Welfare employment contributions since 2002.

“These same workers were also granted exemption from the PAYE system as employees working here under a foreign contract of employment and paid outside of Ireland.

“The Government must outline the circumstances in which these exemptions were granted and whether or not any examination was carried out by the relevant Government Departments before the granting of the exemptions.

“In my view, the PRSI exemptions are an abuse of an arrangement which apply under EU Regulation specifically designed for workers coming to work in Ireland for a period of less than 52 weeks from another EU country, continuing to pay Social Insurance in their home country.

“It appears that the Irish Exchequer may be at a loss of many tens of millions in relation to both PRSI and PAYE deductions in respect of these employees and this employer. It also means that Irish firms employing people as direct employees or on a sub-contract basis would be at a severe competitive disadvantage as compared with an employer who could effectively opt out of both the Irish PRSI and PAYE system.

“The fact that GAMA is a major contractor for public work contracts makes the situation even more disturbing.

“The Government must provide time for a full Dail debate on the GAMA issues. The new questions arising in relation to PRSI and PAYE make this debate urgent. It is necessary to establish whether special arrangements were made to facilitate GAMA.
·Were these arrangements initiated by the Department of Employment and Enterprise?
·Were the Revenue Commissioners who were responsible for collecting PRSI and PAYE from employers aware of the special arrangements and exemptions enjoyed by this company,
·Will the Revenue Commissioners now carry out an investigation of what happened.

In the Dail this morning, The Tanaiste seemed utterly bewildered by these revelations and was unable to give any satisfactory answer to the questions posed by the Leader of the Labour Party, Pat Rabbitte, T.D.

Reference Dail Question No. 307 to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Tuesday, 19th April 2005

Dail Question No. 251 to the Minister for Finance, Tuesday, 19th April 2005