Ms Pauline O'Hare:

As for the constitutional issue, we know that the Supreme Court, in the Ryanair decision, has said that the right to associate is also to be seen as the right to disassociate. As for collective agreements, we know that an ex-gratiapayment, at the moment, if it is to be pursued, is done through the industrial relations mechanisms. Any Labour Court decision made is not binding and cannot be binding because the Supreme Court has recognised that the Constitution is to be interpreted as recognising the right of an employer to disassociate. Therefore, to put something non-binding on a statutory footing and to make an employer and the State bound by it presents constitutional issues because one cannot put something that is non-binding on a legal footing.