Ms Michelle Quinn:

I thank the Deputy for his questions. He asked what happens to workers or performers who do not sign the contract. The likelihood is that they will lose the opportunity of that employment should they fail to sign on the dotted line. That is the sad reality of the situation, I am reliably informed by our members.

Rightly or wrongly our members are of the view that the directive as it currently exists does not provide the full protections that it might. They have that view because the buy-out in Ireland is the norm whereas the intention of the directive is that the buy-out would be the exception rather than the rule. Article 19 covers transparency. Regrettably, we are not able to say whether the remuneration is fair, equitable and proportionate because we simply do not have the level of transparency to be able to answer that question. However, people are being asked in some cases to irrevocably sign away their rights for the privilege of working.