STUDY LABOUR AND SOCIAL JUSTICE TRADE UNION ACCESS TO WORKERS Barriers faced by representatives in Ireland within a comparative European context Dr. Michelle O’Sullivan& Dr. Caroline Murphy July 2024 Ireland has comparatively low collective bargaining coverage in the European Union making the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages of particular interest there. This report ex­amines the views of Irish union officials on the current chal­lenges pertaining to increased collective bargaining. The findings reveal that union officials are largely positively disposed towards the Directive and optimistic it will contrib­ute to addressing the current challenges. However, it was felt that the impact of the Directive is dependent upon how it is transposed. The report offers recommen­dations for policy changes based on the findings and examples from other inter­national contexts.