Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I also apologise because I had a previous engagement and was a little late coming in. I have been closely following this topic. My concerns revolve around worker's rights. I have come across first-hand horror stories of what has happened in this sector. I am interested in what Mr. King has to say about this. It occurs to me that, without a commitment to union recognition, we are not going to move in the way we need in order to ensure a safety net for everyone, staff and students. I want to understand if that is likely to happen because, if not, a massive hole will remain in this sector. It is a sector that, warranted or not, has a really poor reputation when it comes to how staff are handled and precarious work is the predominant theme. I am interested to hear the update from Mr. King and the view of anyone else because I would like to think that everybody here would agree that union recognition should be a cornerstone of respectful relations between staff and the organisations with which they work.