Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2023
3. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has considered the re-establishment of the co-operative development unit within his Department to provide training support and advice to co-operatives. [31679/23]
View answerIn April, the Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment published its report on the general scheme of the co-operative societies Bill. As part of that report, there were 27 recommendations. One was on the re-establishment of the co-operative unit within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Will the Minister confirm if the Department is giving consideration to this proposal? Can we anticipate the re-establishment of this unit?
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist agus as an tuaraisc ón gcoiste faoi cúrsaí na gcomharchumann. The issue as to whether the Department would establish a co-operative development unit is part of the bigger issue we are considering regarding overall supports for the co-operative sector. I acknowledge the work of the Deputy and the committee on this. As he knows, there are a number of aspects. One of the most significant forms of assistance for the sector will be the introduction of a modern legal framework which will place the co-operative model on a more favourable and much clearer legal basis. This will encourage the consideration of the co-operative model as an attractive formation option for entrepreneurs and for social and community activities. A modern legislative basis, including strong corporate governance requirements, will also provide confidence to stakeholders and help to encourage investment in co-operatives.
My Department is continuing to engage widely with key stakeholders to raise awareness of the proposed legislation and the potential for those who wish to follow the co-operative ethos to grow and prosper under a modernised co-operative regime. This includes ongoing liaison with the co-operative sector and its representative bodies, the enterprise development agencies, other relevant Departments, professional advisers and direct communication by the registrar with individual societies.
Supports to enterprises through the enterprise development agencies are not necessarily based on the model of business formation. The choice of model is a matter for the founders of any business and this Department does not promote one model over another. The forthcoming co-operative legislation will complement the already modernised and consolidated regime applying to companies.
Co-ops are not homogenous as they differ in size, ownership, sector, and so on. As already said, supports to enterprises are not based on the model of business formation but on the distinctive needs of a particular enterprise at a key point of its journey. At the moment, it is considered that the most appropriate way to raise awareness of the potential benefits of the co-operative model is through existing channels and structures. However, my Department is keeping the matter under review. We are continuing to review the entire pre-legislative scrutiny report. We will come back to the committee with updated information in the autumn.
I thank the Minister of State. As he said, co-operatives can sustain employment in situations where, as I said, jobs would otherwise be lost. They are jobs that would be lost not because the business is untenable but because they were not generating enough profits as expected by stakeholders. Co-operatives are often a way of giving control to local communities, stimulating the local economy and building regional and local wealth, but these co-operatives need support and training. It is my view that we should look to prioritise the supports and assistance available to co-ops in the context of economic growth and development to sustain communities. Local employment offices must be supported in training, upskilling and resourcing to facilitate the establishment and growth of co-operatives within each local employment office. Each office should have a minimum of one person available in-house to provide support to the co-operative sector, especially when establishing co-ops. We are reaching a situation now where we all agree that employment is good at the moment. We are down to 4% unemployment and we need to look at any way to tackle that 4% unemployment. Co-operatives would be one very good way to do that.
Absolutely, we do not disagree. As the Deputy knows, the legislation for the co-operative movement is more than a century old. The best thing is to have contemporary legislation that reflects some of the trends the Deputy has just spoken about. Doing that will be a step change for the sector. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been clear that he wants us and the Department to engage widely with the co-operative sector to bring far more knowledge about the Bill. One thing I have discovered is that there is not as much knowledge or awareness of potential changes in the Bill as I would like. We are trying to increase awareness and knowledge. All the proposals the committee has made would be considered on that basis.
Increasing the knowledge and information would be welcome because there is concern and a lack of clarity about what co-ops are. Historically, co-ops have been vital to key sectors of our economy. They have shown that they work, when considering agriculture and credit unions, for instance, among others. Internationally, co-ops have been successful across Europe in a wide range of sectors, including banking, insurance, retail and agriculture. As I said, it is important, not just with regard to co-ops but as we come to a time with full employment. We are down to 4% of people who are not in employment. There are key sectors we can look at, including people from the Traveller community, people with disabilities, and women who have left work to raise children who now want to come back in but do not have the skills or sense of security to come back. There are areas where we unfortunately still have unemployment blackspots. Co-ops can be really good to address those. In my constituency of Limerick, in the census previous to the most recent one and while we are waiting for the new statistics to come out in November, eight of the top ten blackspots were in Limerick city. We need some targeted interventions there. Co-ops would be one way to look at that.
Absolutely. We are completely at one with regard to the potential of co-ops. They have also been important community vehicles to deliver community services such as water over the years. There is huge potential here. We absolutely support that kind of model of social inclusion and social progression. The most important thing is that we have a contemporary legislative framework and underpinning. In framing that, we can also increase and enhance the potential of the co-operative movement and structure. We continue to work to increase awareness and to work with all the various stakeholders in this sphere. I am more than happy to engage with the committee on it again in the autumn.
