Self-employed urged to pay NIS

Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight says that less than 15 per cent of the self-employed in Barbados are contributing to the National Insurance Scheme.

She told the Upper House on Wednesday that the changes to the national insurance laws to make it easier for self-employed to make contributions to the scheme as they earn were being made under the advice of Government’s Chief Parliamentary Counsel to make sure the country moves forward in the most “efficient” way.

She said the repealing of the changes made in August this year was necessary to correct some deficiencies in the legislation.

“We could not in good conscience stand on our pride if there was an opportunity that would allow us to be able to immediately make sure that we had the best fit of legislation that would allow us to ensure that those self-employed people could operate within the new dispensation in a system that would create a more flexible, adaptable and fit-for-purpose system,” she said at the start of the session.

Senators at Wednesday’s meeting in the Upper Chamber.

Moving the second reading of the National Insurance and Social Security (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2023, Senator Dr Munro-Knight said the reimagined scheme was important so that more Barbadians could contribute and benefit from the social security investment.

The acting Leader of Government Business noted that the low participation rate by self-employed persons in the scheme needs to be addressed. She explained that the large group of people including the elderly, will have a support mechanism when, later, they come to lean on the state for assistance.

Addressing why the Government has returned to the legislation to increase the participation of the self-employed, Dr Munro-Knight said entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the country and the legislative change will address the needs of those in the non-traditional sectors.

“Those are the persons who built this country, the people who started with a one-door store in town and then built it up, who are also employers. Those people are entrepreneurs with small and medium-sized businesses,” she said.

She said the previous system was not attuned to their needs and how they operated.

“We were doing a fundamental disservice to those entrepreneurs,” she told the Upper House.

The big question for the set of builders of Barbados, she noted, is “What happens if..? (SP)