Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Senator McDowell is right to seek to establish exactly what is involved in consultation. The definition of consultation is "an exchange of views and establishment of dialogue". Senator McDowell's central point is that consultation must be active, which is what is intended in this instance. My ignorance about possible models has been ameliorated somewhat because I have just received some research from the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, which contains some interesting examples that I would never have thought about. It could include an amalgam of some or all of these models. It could include employee briefings; team, business unit or department level large-scale staff meetings; interdepartmental meetings; organisation-wide breakfast or lunch briefings; management chain; information cascades; performance reviews; training or development reviews; employee appraisals; 360 degree systems; one-to-one meetings; attitude and employee surveys; and suggestion schemes. That is an entire range of schemes. However, no matter what it is, it must meet the requirement that it be an active two-way process. In view of the diversity in experience of practice in the country, it is advisable that this legislation allow the existing models to be developed, and to provide for the representational model if the day comes that a number of employees are dissatisfied.