Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 11, line 9, to delete "his or her parent or guardian" and substitute the following:

"the employee's parent or guardian with his or her consent".

Schedule 1 of the Bill provides redress for compensation and a mechanism for complaints to a rights commissioner for an employee who may have been penalised or threatened with penalisation by an employer as a result of having made a report to an appropriate person, containing his or her opinion of a suspected corruption offence. The purpose of these amendments, which are of a drafting nature, is to provide clarity that where an employee has not reached the age of 18, his or her parent or guardian may present a complaint to the rights commissioner on that employee's behalf. Amendment No. 10 affords a more precise wording in setting out that in respect of an employee under 18 years of age, the employee's parent or guardian can, with his or her consent, present a complaint to the rights commissioner on that employee's behalf. Amendment No. 11, which again is a drafting amendment, substitutes "the employee" for "his or her" to improve clarity of meaning.

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