Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 41:

In page 40, to delete lines 5 and 6 and substitute the following:“(3) Subject to subsection (4)*, a notice under subsection (2) shall be given to the Labour Court not later than 42 days from the date of the decision concerned.
(4) The Labour Court may direct that a notice under subsection (2) may be given to it after the expiration of the period specified in subsection (3) if it is satisfied that the notice was not so given before such expiration due to the existence of exceptional circumstances.”.

This amendment is required to provide greater clarity regarding the time limit within which an appeal may be brought on a decision of an adjudication officer by either party to that decision. It is now proposed that a time limit of 42 days will run from the date of the decision. This eliminates the scope for confusion as to whether a particular appeal has been lodged in a timely manner by the party bringing the appeal.
The second aspect of the proposed amendment provides a basis on which the Labour Court may extend the time period for accepting a particular appeal application where the appellant demonstrates that exceptional circumstances applied and prevented the appellant from lodging the appeal within the normal 42-day period.