Office of Ombudsman for Children pays more than €100,000 in settlement with Revenue

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has paid more than €100,000 in settlements with the Revenue Commissioners in respect of staff who were incorrectly categorised as contractors rather than employees.

The office said it had made three separate payments to the Revenue Commissioners which related to 10 individuals who worked there between 2008 and 2019.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children said the workers concerned operated in various roles in the organisation. It said they had initially been recruited for fixed periods of time but had remained with the office after this had expired.

Details of the payments emerged in answer to a parliamentary question tabled by Ged Nash of the Labour Party who had sought details about bogus self-employment incidents in various Government departments and agencies.

Mr Nash said on Thursday that “bogus self-employment cheated the Revenue Commissioners, deprives the State of taxes, and workers of their rights and entitlements”.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children said it had paid €12,338 to Revenue in 2022 following a review by the Department of Social Protection in relation to two cases where workers were incorrectly treated as contractors engaged under a contract for service, rather than classified as employees for PRSI purposes during the period 2016-2019.

It said the Department of Social Protection had carried out a review of the situation regarding its contractors on foot of a complaint.

“The office subsequently decided to review all individuals engaged by the office on a contract for services basis between 2016 and 2019, and submitted a voluntary disclosure and payment to Revenue of €30,184 in 2023 for seven individuals.

“In 2023 the Ombudsman for Children’s Office paid €62,044 to Revenue [PRSI and related fees] following a successful appeal of one case relating to some periods between 2008 and 2016 to the Department of Social Protection. This case was originally found in favour of the office and as a result it was not included in the voluntary disclosure to Revenue.”

It said there were no cases with respect of 2020 to date and there were no outstanding appeals.

Mr Nash said when it came to workers’ rights, the State needed to lead by example. “We know that the phenomenon of bogus self-employment was rife in RTÉ, and it would be foolish to assume that the practice had not occurred anywhere else.

“I submitted parliamentary questions to all Ministers and all State agencies to establish the extent or otherwise of employment status misclassification across all State bodies.

“Based on the response received from the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman, it is welcome that two particular cases prompted the body to undertake a wider review of the actual employment status of several workers who they have indicated were originally engaged on a ‘contract for services’, covering 2016-2019.”

Mr Nash said “all Government Ministers must send out a clear message to bodies under the aegis of their respective departments that bogus self-employment and the misclassification of the real employment status of workers cannot and will not be tolerated”.