Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for coming in today and for the evidence they have given us. I have three questions. The first relates to the reform in the shape of the legislation on worker co-operatives. I have a question about why it has taken so long. The reason I am asking this is because we know that right across Europe, the co-operative model has been found not only to be productive, but to be competitive and highly resilient, which I think is extremely important. Countries such as Scotland, France, Italy and Spain have demonstrated this. We know that worker co-operatives are very good at keeping community-generated wealth local. We know that they are good for local business and local jobs. We know that they build really strong, resilient local enterprises. We also know that they are very resistant and resilient in terms of bouncing back post the recession. A study from the Democracy at Work Institute found that worker co-operatives in the US survived through their first six to ten years at a rate that is 7% higher than traditional small businesses. Therefore, all of the evidence is that these are good things and we should be moving quickly on them. I must ask the witnesses why this legislation is taking so long. What is the delay? The reforms are very much needed, but we should be prioritising that.