Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

These are all independent companies. They are not semi-State agencies. Their boards are appointed in a certain way but the employees of these companies are not employed by the State. At the end of the day, these are private companies and, therefore, it is incumbent on them to comply with both EU and national law in regard to employment policy. They raised issues with regard to the cohesion process and bringing together staff in different organisations, and asked for expert advice, which is not available in my Department. To facilitate the process, we appointed consultants to give advice to these groups to make sure we facilitate them in complying, in their actions, with the law. The obligation is on them to comply with the law.

See this speech in context