Mr. Shay Cody:

Exactly, and there is no issue in that regard. Revenue recognises that if one is a member of a profession governed by any of those regulatory bodies and one must pay a professional fee, that fee is claimable against tax. However, for teachers the payment is €80-odd per year; CORU's fees are €100 per year; in the case of the Nursing Council, the fee is €100 per year. Even if one is given tax relief at the standard rate, it will amount to €20 so it will not be a king's ransom, but that is claimable.

The main purpose of a trade union is representation, but that is not all we do. Mr. O'Connor mentioned the fact that we represent thousands of special needs assistants. The State provides very little in-house training for special needs assistants. The body that does the CPD in that area is actually the trade union. We hold out-of-hours weekend workshops for our members in all the dimensions of delivering a professional service. This is very much akin to what a self-employed person would be able to benefit from-----