Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The final point made by Senator McDowell is interesting. It may well be that because of the situation with undertakings and because there is provision for people in different areas to have slightly different agreements and arrangements, representation will not be pro rata between the various branches and the main part of a company's operations. On the other hand, it would be a pity to preclude a local arrangement in a branch if it was suitable for its circumstances and agreed by the majority of its employees, if that was beneficial to the company. There is a pro rata provision in the legislation in respect of the provision for trade union representatives.

Senator McDowell's point about the various representatives not necessarily representing the same number is interesting and I had not thought of it. I will examine it to see if has merit. It would be an extremely complex matter to reach some kind of a formula to overcome the problem. For example, there might be one branch with 120 people and another with 20. In that situation, a common sense approach must be taken. However, the Senator has made a point which I had not considered and I will examine the issue.