Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Bill is very important in simplifying the process of starting a co-operative in Ireland, which must happen. I note that the Minister of State, Deputy English, said the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, would do this all of a sudden and that it would be done by the end of the year. That is amazing, considering that the legislation has been in place since 1874. Some 120 years later we will get to consolidate it.

That is indicative of the lack of importance that this and previous Governments have placed on co-operatives and their ability to contribute to our society. Rather, they have focused entirely on foreign direct investment, FDI, and the development of multinationals, which run riot around the country accruing great benefit. The schemes that would be of benefit to the citizens of this country and the places where they live have been put on the hind tit. Those policies have led to our industrial profile not being developed to benefit the people of Ireland rather than the businesses that have moved here.

Co-operatives are more developed and active in countries such as Germany than is the case here. Such development is not something to be afraid of. It would not communise Ireland - a prospect which I acknowledge would terrify Fine Gael.

The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, ICOS, brilliantly outlines on its website the principles of co-operatives, which make them of value. It outlines that co-operatives are voluntary organisations open to all; that they are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions, with men and women serving as elected representatives accountable to the membership. In primary co-operatives, members have equal voting rights - one member, one vote - while co-operatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic manner. Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. Members allocate surpluses for the purposes of developing the co-operative, benefitting members in proportion to their transactions with the co-operative and supporting other activities approved by the membership. Co-operatives are autonomous, self-help organisations controlled by their members. Emphasis is placed on education, training and information. There is significant co-operation among co-operatives, which work together through local, national, regional and international structures. Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities, which stands in stark contrast to how business currently operates in this country. The multinationals exist to benefit their shareholders, of whom there are very few living and working here. We do not have much to fear from organisations that apply those principles their core, although the multinational businesses which want everything in society to prioritise their profit needs may not wish for them to grow in stature.

There is a long history of co-operative societies in rural Ireland. The agricultural co-operatives that are now public limited companies may not have benefitted their members as much as they could or originally intended. Co-ops in Donegal have survived over time. Deputy Connolly referred to some of them. The Glencolumbkille co-operative initiated by Fr. McDyer has fallen by the wayside but it provided hope for a significant time. My father worked there as a manager in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The most notable of co-operative is the Cope in Dungloe, which is still going today. It started out as the Templecrone Co-Operative Agricultural Society in 1906 and retains many of the characteristics of a co-operative today. Many co-operatives were created to meet a community need. For example, the Comhar Cumann na Rosann Teo knitting co-operative established in the 1970s and which operated until recently was a much-needed resource for the women of the area. It provided them with a means of creating income by selling their knitting and acted as a liaison to buyers in order to achieve a better prices for the produce, which is vitally important. Indeed, it pissed off many people in the local community who were benefitting from the work of the women and did not want them to organise as a co-operative. My mother was involved in that initiative through the Combat Poverty Agency, which did a significant amount of good work in terms of forming co-operatives in Donegal through the 1970s, of which this was a perfect example. Fishermen’s co-operatives were established in most coastal communities. Many have become private companies or fallen by the wayside because it has been difficult to keep them going.

This legislation might go some way to making co-operatives viable. Governments past and present have intentionally made it difficult for economic models other than the dominant private sector profit-driven model, which has wreaked havoc in our country, to flourish. The Bill is designed to amend the regulations relating to the establishment of co-operative societies in order to make the process of registering a co-operative far easier. It reduces the membership criteria from seven members to three, in line with regulations in most European countries. It allows for electronic filing and registration and audit exemptions, which are all available to other types of companies. These small measures will level the playing field and make the establishment of co-operatives far easier, as well as bringing us more in line with the rest of Europe.

We need to face the fact that our economic model must change if we are to address the issue of climate change and meet our international and domestic obligations in that regard. The co-operative model can play a major role in facilitating that. Co-operatives can facilitate a revolution in renewable energy. Communities could own and manage their own renewable energy sources, bypassing the developer-led wind farm model which is greatly loved by Irish officialdom. Citizen co-operatives in Germany have been investing in the production of renewable energies for many years. Some are now considering how to buy the energy grid back from energy companies. Co-operatives in Hamburg succeeded in doing so, creating a new business model that many countries would like to emulate. Almost 40% of German renewable capacity is now locally owned, some by household domestic photovoltaic and some by local co-operatives, with hundreds of village and town-based schemes in place. This model has been suggested as a new form of decentralised socio-economic power, whereby local social entrepreneurship challenges the existing market system. The fact that there is local ownership and self-generation means that the existing developer-led utility companies are losing control of some parts of their market, which can only be good news for the people and the environment.

The growth of co-operatives could be part of a solution to the decline of towns and villages in rural Ireland. Residents could get together to form a co-operative and buy out the local pub, restaurant or butcher. The possibilities are limitless but require the right amount of political will. The Bill will enable co-operatives to become established and thrive. A co-operative-led economy could uphold the principles of a just transition, where workers’ rights are upheld such that workers can live and work within their communities and sustainable local economies can thrive. Workers’ rights would also be preserved through worker co-operatives, which are more resilient and productive than the alternative and provide greater benefits to workers and their communities. The Bill would facilitate an increase in the development to the co-operative sector in line with the needs of communities across the country. The co-operative model could be the perfect antidote to Fine Gael’s corrosive policies, which are undermining rural Ireland and the needs of communities across the country. If the Minister is serious about reforming the industrial and provident societies legislation, I ask her to provide a date for doing so. Unfortunately, I do not believe the will is there to make it happen.

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