Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would argue that members of staff should be represented by trade unions and that by creating the option of staff associations, we are providing that they may not be represented by trade unions in the future. As the Minister stated, such associations do not exist within the institutes currently. We should not be encouraging them to exist in the future by making provision in legislation which would allow them to be created within the sector.

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