Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Mooney-Brown and all the witnesses for their opening statements. We will now continue with questions. I will go first because I will be relieved of the chairmanship in a moment. It is important that we have gone ahead with this session because the witnesses have come a long way. This is an important topic. It is something that is close to the hearts of the witnesses and many of the committee members.

The witnesses might be aware of Cycle Sense in Skibbereen. I was blissfully unaware of it until two or three years ago when I received an invitation to visit the shop. To say I was blown away would be an understatement. What it does is unbelievable. Hundreds of bikes are being repaired or are ready for repair. The workmanship on display is incredible, as are the finish and the quality of bikes going back into circulation having been worked on. It is amazing. Another element of what Cycle Sense does is reusing paint. The volume of bikes it gets back into circulation is extraordinary and the amount of waste it avoids is brilliant.

It had a lasting impact on my sense of how things could and should be done. The people behind it are absolutely wonderful, but I worry because it involves a great deal of work by what is only a small number of individuals. I often worry about the reward they get. This is the subject matter of my first question. Reference was made to how the organisations should be sustainable. How can we give confidence to the social enterprises so they can continue doing what they are doing and be made sustainable on a long-term basis?

Funding was mentioned. Any time the enterprises get a grant of €1,500 from the local authority, they are absolutely over the moon, but it seems they should be getting far more significant grants to keep them sustainable. They have to think about their premises, materials, training, etc. That is one point of view on funding. I imagine it is the community employment scheme model that is sustaining the enterprises. How sustainable is that? Since this work is so important, it should surely be put on a stronger footing by paying the people responsible for bringing all the material back into circulation. Whoever wishes to do so might comment on that.