Mr. Haydn Hammersley:

This is a very good question. We are always very careful about saying there is best practice because all countries have something that works less well. With regard to workers' rights in Scandinavia, there is a real culture of collective bargaining but the system is completely different to the Irish one. It might be difficult to transpose it into the Irish context. For example, there is no minimum wage in Scandinavian countries. It is all done on the basis of collective bargaining. There is no quota system for employing persons with disabilities. We would rather say there are some good practices all around Europe and not only in Scandinavia that can be adopted in Ireland. For example, countries such as Malta have a good system of job carving and finding or creating positions in the open labour market for persons with intellectual disabilities. It is something that has had quite a significant impact.

At EU level we have research and publications on this type of good practice. Again, this is something I can share with the joint committee, which can be looked into to see whether measures can be transposed into the Irish context.