Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Let us hope it does not become standard practice. To follow on from that, I appreciate that this involves a small number of companies and I am not for one moment suggesting it is the norm or that anyone in this room wants it to become the norm. It is not the norm and it should not become the norm. I fully appreciate that but there is a certain level of volatility in the tech sector. That is why we convened this meeting and asked the witnesses to speak to us this morning. This very much reinforces the need for workers to join a trade union, be active in trade unions and have a collective voice in their workplace. A form of collective bargaining will be imposed on us by the European Union by virtue of a directive. How do the companies the witnesses represent feel about trade unions? I am aware of the history of IDA Ireland and that previously there were pre-agreements - I believe the name was "sweetheart deals". Nobody wants to go back to that, including the trade unions. Given that we will have legislation and collective bargaining in the next short while, what is the view of the companies the witnesses represent?