Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. Shine for his response. Being mindful of that and that not all co-ops are equal, as it were, there will be some social enterprises, workers' co-ops specifically, that may need extra help to get going. I am mindful that the co-operative development unit, CDU, which was established, no longer exists according to my information. I had some engagement with it and was impressed with the work it did. Does the scope exist within this legislation to re-establish the CDU or potentially establish a workers' co-operative development unit or a unit that would specifically recognise that social enterprises, smaller workers' co-ops and those kinds of entities are not the same as massive co-ops that have thousands of workers and billions of turnover? They will not have a big back-office operation and will need some kind of help and support, not just to get going, which is important, but also to advise them. In my experience, the CDU was helpful to people setting up a workers' co-op who did not have much experience in business etc. but who were eager, enthusiastic and willing to put the hours in. They needed that support and the CDU was there. Is there scope within the legislation to incorporate a workers' co-operative development unit or a social enterprise co-operative development unit, recognising that there are big ones and ones that might need more help?