Dr. Niall Kennedy:

I thank Senator O'Reilly for the questions. I want to make reference to the submission we gave to the committee, which references some recent published research by, for example, Dr. Theresa O'Keefe, who is a member of our group, with Dr. Aline Courtois. That has interviews with a number of precariously employed workers in Ireland. Two things are very striking. First, there is this feeling of being absolutely invisible with regard to permanent colleagues, with regard to their own research and, as the Senator said, in the governance of institutions and having their concerns not taken account of. Second, there is also the great fear of speaking up because if people speak up about poor conditions, they are not given more work, or at least that is the fear that people have. That comes up again and again in the interviews. Perhaps I am taking a risk by being here today, but that is one big reason. Precarity produces a very disciplined workforce and that is one of the reasons it is very popular in institutions.