Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

They have to do with trade unions and staff associations. The Bill, in sections 63, 67, 79 and 83, provides that members of staff of bodies dissolved under the Bill shall automatically become members of staff of the relevant merged institute or technological university. In addition, those sections ensure that transferring members of staff shall retain their existing conditions of remuneration, unless those conditions are varied in accordance with a collective agreement "negotiated with a recognised trade union or staff association". This is a standard provision which can be found in a wide range of legislation dealing with the transfer of staff from one body to another, including the Education and Training Boards Act 2013, the Roads Act 2015, the Local Government Reform Act 2014 and the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014. Amendments Nos. 7, 18 to 20, inclusive, 24 and 26, tabled by Deputy O'Brien, would have the effect of varying this standard wording and, for that reason, I cannot support them.