Ms Sarah Clarke:

I thank committee members for this opportunity. I am a member of the in-house committee in Institute of Technology, Carlow, as a Fórsa rep, so I am speaking on behalf of our members there, who are predominantly women.

Since 2011, we have taken significant pay cuts and have seen our sick leave halved, holidays reduced and working week extended, all of which has a financial cost for members, many of whom are the sole wage earners in their households and also have caring responsibilities in respect of small children or elderly parents. We are seeking parity of esteem. It is inconceivable that one can claim tax relief if one is a farmer and subscribed to the IFA, a member of a professional body or even a business with an IBEC or ISME subscription when a member of a trade union, which is the negotiating body for our sector and is valuable to us as the means through which we do our business, receives no recognition in that regard. I would put the case from that point of view and from the perspective of people on the ground who are not earning large salaries, are committed trade unionists and believe that their trade union is of significant benefit to them in their working lives, not just in terms of training, but also in terms of upskilling, which we are all being asked to do in these times.