Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The view the Commissioner expressed to SIPTU three weeks ago is that it is particularly unusual that no progress has been made on this matter. I understand he intends to follow up on it directly.

In the short time I have left, I wish to raise another issue. I hope the Minister has seen the excellent report produced by the committee on co-operatives and the potential thereof. It speaks directly to the issue of diversity in the economy raised by my colleague, Deputy O’Reilly. One of the key recommendations made by the committee is that the Government give active consideration to re-establishing a co-operative development unit. We made that recommendation because the evidence from Scotland in particular, as well as from other jurisdictions, is that such a unit is needed to drive the support and development of co-operatives. It does not currently form part of the Bill, even though the evidence from Scotland shows that co-operatives have thrived, doubling in number, since the model was implemented there. What is the Minister’s position on this issue? It would be welcome if the Government could not just give active consideration to it, but seriously consider amending the planned legislation to include the establishment of a co-operative development unit to maximise the potential of the sector. As the Minister is aware, the sector in Ireland is very much behind the curve compared with its European peers,.