Ms Maeve McElwee:

I certainly recognise that not every organisation is open to embracing collective bargaining. I do not necessarily have a level of discomfort with the fact that some organisations choose not to collectively bargain and others do. What is critically important is that we see a respectful engagement either way, whether an organisation wishes to engage directly or engages through collective bargaining. We would obviously never expect or support any victimisation or witch-hunts of particular individuals within an organisation. We do not see many examples of that arising, as we have said, or of people taking cases of that nature. It is, however, absolutely a fact that some employers prefer to engage directly and our legislation and industrial relations framework provide for that.