Mr. T.J. Flanagan:

Potentially, but the issue is that what we are talking about doing cuts across the autonomy of the members to do what they like with their business. In principle, we would like members to have the power to decide. A co-operative is set up by the members, for the members. If the members decide they are going to sell that business because it makes sense for them or they finally decide they cannot run the business efficiently and somebody else could do it better, who are we to say the members should not do that? I defer to experience in other sectors where an asset lock might have a role to play but it certainly does not in our sphere. Theoretically, even in an energy co-op, I would be reluctant to put something into a rule. If the members decide to put it into a rule book they can do that. Members in an Irish Co-Operative Organisation Society, ICOS, can put in a rule that does the same thing. You absolutely can do that. If a group comes to us in the morning and there are 50, 100, or 1,000 people and they want to set up a co-op in the energy sphere and they say they want to put in a rule that does x, y, z, we will draft it for them and help them get it registered and it will be legally binding, but it is the members who do that.