Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

This amendment seeks to delete lines 47 and 48 on page 36 and to substitute "in this section 'penalisation' means". The legislative framework covering protection against dismissal and penalisation contained in section 27 and later sections is similar to that in other worker protection legislation. This amendment and amendment No. 22, if accepted, would considerably weaken the provision in question. Under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, for example, the employer would have a defence if actions taken to ensure the employee's safety were taken in compliance with requirements under health and safety laws and that would clearly undermine the effect of the entire provision.

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