Mr. Philip Sack:

I agree there should be a legal obligation with regard to this specific question, because it is absolutely impossible for EWC members to do so, as Dr. Altmeyer in particular and others have made clear. EWC members cannot be expected to bring complex legal disputes in Irish jurisdictions on their own, in their non-native English language, in an unfamiliar legal environment and potentially up against very well-paid lawyers and barristers. There is already a requirement in the legislation. It comes from the directive and appears in all legislation implementing the directive, including section 17(1)(a) of the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Act. It requires the central management to provide members of an EWC with the means required to apply the rights arising from the directive to represent the collective interests of employees. That is already in there. The question really is whether than includes the cost of advice, support and help, whether that is legal advice or just expert advice, to bring a dispute on behalf of an EWC. We await a test case. This is one of the issues that goes to adjudication at the WRC. We await a test case as to whether that is what it means in the Irish context. It was ruled that it covers legal costs in the UK.