Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Put in layperson's terms, it was a question of whether the actors in question were self-employed independent contractors, who are subject to the Act, or employees, who are generally not subject to the Act. The authority considered this issue to be particularly important in this case where the trade union has both employed persons and self-employed independent contractors as members. The authority stated in its decision that while it was perfectly legal for a trade union to represent employees in collective bargaining with their employers, its trade union mantle could not exempt its conduct when it acts as a trade association for self-employed contractors.

The authority also stated that if one were to take a wooden approach and find that all trade union members were exempt from the Act, the protections afforded to consumers by the Oireachtas in the Competition Act could easily be bypassed in that associations of independent pharmacists, publicans and barristers, to name but a few, could obtain safe haven for their members by adding "union" to their name and obtaining a negotiating licence.

See this speech in context