Mr. Chris Gordon:

The majority of people who have set up new companies applied to the Companies Registration Office to do so. For most, their interaction with the process is through accountants. I apologise to my fellow witnesses but, when someone approaches accountants, they generally ask why that person would not own the company. We have no intention of owning the Irish Export Co-operative. It is meant to be a co-operative. Accountants go by the law that governs them. I do not want to speak on their behalf but, if more credence were given to co-operatives through a section in the Bill, it would be an incentive to use this model as a mechanism.