Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 14 December 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

General Scheme of the Co-operative Societies Bill 2022: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Ms Teodora Corcoran:

Again, we cannot be hugely prescriptive. We are encouraging in the legislation that they have one member, one vote, unless the rules provide otherwise. In our case, however, the concern is that with, geographically, a widely spread co-op, there will be only a few members coming from one area and many from another, so they would have to have a better representation at the co-op. That was expressed by umbrella organisations. We are, therefore, encouraging that everybody has one vote but allowing, where the activity requires it, for divergence from that.