Dr. Deirdre Curran:

I will comment on sectoral agreements. I am here as an independent academic. Based on the research I have done, workers within the hospitality sector have no voice. Less than 7% of them are members of a trade union. In the survey, I asked workers if they would be willing to join a trade union. Many of them said they would be willing but the main reasons they cited for not joining a trade union were, first, fear of the employer's reaction and, second, apathy in the sense that nothing would get better in the sector. My firm belief is that it would be incredibly difficult to unionise workers in this sector because of that fear. My view is that we need some kind of sectoral agreement at national level - a collective agreement between employers and worker representatives - on levels of decency and compliance with employment rights.