I thank the Vice Chairman, Deputies and Senators for the opportunity to make today's presentation. I will first introduce our team. Professor Kathleen Lynch is head of the school of equality studies in UCD and Dr. Stephen Nolan is from Trademark in Belfast. Trademark is a social justice co-operative addressing sectarianism and injustice; as part of that remit it also encourages the development of interface co-operatives in the North. Mr. Michael Gavin is founder member of the Bridge Street Co-operative in Kenmare and managing director at Gavin & Co. accounting services. I am with Meitheal Mid-West, which is based in Limerick and was set up just over a year ago to promote the worker co-operative model not just for economic benefit, but for social benefits as well.
On 17 June we set up the Workers Co-operative Network to promote worker co-operatives in the North and South of Ireland. That first meeting took place in Belfast. However, events were put in train almost 12 months ago to bring this about and the process began when we invited representatives of MONDRAGON to Limerick. MONDRAGON is the world's largest industrial workers' co-operative.
It commenced in 1955 with five engineers assembling paraffin heaters. They set up the first co-operative and it has transitioned today to a federation or corporation of 120 co-operatives, with a turnover of €15 billion and more than 80,000 worker-owners. It is competitive, innovative and profitable. Mikal Lezamiz, its director of co-operative dissemination, spent four days with us in Limerick, and on foot of that, we organised a field trip to Mondragón. Kathleen Lynch and Stephen Nolan accompanied me and 17 others on the trip to Mondragón to see the operation at first hand.
When we returned, we put together the INTERREG bid, Co-operatives for Growth, and submitted it to the EU. We hope to get a decision on that shortly. However, whether we win, lose or draw with it, the benefits of it are already tangible. We have been able to strengthen our relationship with MONDRAGON and with co-operatives throughout the UK and in mainland Europe. The Co-operatives for Growth initiative involved universities, development agencies, local authorities and co-operatives in Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France and the Netherlands as well as MONDRAGON in Spain coming together to pool resources.
In May, we invited David Erdal to give a keynote presentation on alternative economic development models. David Erdal is the recently retired chairman of Tullis Russell, Scotland's largest wholly employee-owned company. It has 520 owner-workers. He explained how it transitioned from a purely private company to a worker-owned company. It was profitable as a private, family-owned company but is even more profitable and sustainable as a worker-owned company.
In June, we established the Workers Co-operative Network and in July we had our first meeting with the Northern Ireland Co-operative Forum. At the end of this month, on 29 September, we will hold a workers co-operative seminar in Limerick, at which many of the worker co-operatives from the UK will tell us how they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.
We promote worker co-operatives not just for their economic value but also for their social value. We look at Spain, Italy and France and the contribution worker co-operatives make in generating wealth and sustainable jobs. They make a significant contribution in those economies, so why can that not happen in Ireland? We have, for the first time, identified what is required to enable the model to work in Ireland. Emilia-Romagna in Italy is one of the top ten most prosperous regions in Europe and 40% of its businesses are co-operatives. Why not have that here? We have identified the items required for that to happen here. Legislative change is the first requirement. We need a supportive legislative framework which can give rise to an enabling environment. There are a number of other matters after that, but that is the crucial one.
If we are serious about stopping the tide of involuntary emigration and the slide into poverty and subsistence, which is obvious from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, reports that are detailed in our submission, this is a no-brainer, if I may use that term. It is self-evident that it is something we should be doing. It can co-exist with the existing foreign direct investment, FDI, model. In fact, as the FDI model comes under increasing threat, we should hedge our bets and pursue the worker co-operative model with vigour. I read about a meeting this committee held with representatives of the IDA at which the IDA representatives acknowledged that their competitors are upping their game.
There is no downside for the State in pursuing this avenue. Consider the Spanish example. The MONDRAGON co-operative is now the largest single employer in the Basque region in Spain. It is the seventh largest conglomerate in Spain and is in the top 50 in Europe. The Basque region, according to Standard & Poor's most recent report, is now two points ahead of the Spanish sovereign in terms of its credit rating. That is particularly due to the sustainable structures in its environment. There is everything to play for, so we welcome questions from members of the committee.