Mr. John Shine:

There are a few aspects to that. The current legislation is difficult and fragmented. It is not a welcoming place. That is evidenced by the fact that relatively few new co-operatives are actually set up. The numbers are quite stable. There are maybe ten or 15 joining every year. It is not a very dynamic area. It is poorly understood by those in the area and by many advisers. If individuals go to an adviser and are minded to set up, they may be advised to set up under the company law model rather than the industrial and provident society legislation. It is not a particularly comfortable legislative space at the moment. It is poorly understood. That is the fundamental issue.

There are a number of active representative bodies already in this space in various areas such as group water schemes, housing, the dairy and agricultural sector and so on. They are very proactive in assisting their members. There are already supports in place. This is groundbreaking legislation, so we are keen to ensure it is well understood, promoted and that people understand the potential for it over the next few years as we proceed through the drafting process, enactment and the transition phase. We will be engaging with all of the relevant stakeholders. We have already started that process. We have engaged with colleagues elsewhere in the Department on the enterprise side, with Enterprise Ireland, with the local enterprise offices, LEOs, and so on to ensure there is good awareness of this and support for it. That is something we will continue to work through.

On setting up a co-operative development unit, we are not considering that at the moment. We are aware of the work done by the co-operative development unit, CDU, over a period of 14 or 15 years until it was disbanded in 2002. We do not see a particular need for it at the moment. We certainly do not consider that there is a case to set up a dedicated unit. However, we do see the importance of support in general, awareness raising, working with representative bodies and ensuring there is a good appreciation of the potential of the legislation.