Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 14, line 13, after "employee" to insert the following:

"(or, in the case of an employee who has not reached the age of 18 years, the employee's parent or guardian with his or her consent)".

As I mentioned earlier, section 6, inserting Schedule 1 of the Bill, contains a mechanism for complaints to a rights commissioner for employees who may have been threatened with penalisation, following the making by them of whistleblowers' reports as provided for under this Bill. There is also provision for parents or guardians of employees under the age of 18 to make a complaint to a rights commissioner on behalf of the employee, subject to getting that employee's consent to do so. The purpose of these amendments is to ensure there is specific provision for a young employee's parent or guardian to take proceedings on his or her behalf on the basis that he or she has given consent to this. There is provision for the institution of proceedings by a parent or guardian under the Unfair Dismissals Acts or to recover damages at common law for wrongful dismissal as provided under amendments Nos. 16 and 17.

Amendments Nos. 17 and 18 provide more precise wording to clarify respectively that the employee's parent or guardian cannot institute unfair dismissal proceedings or seek damages in common law in addition to making a complaint to the rights commissioner in subparagraph (8)(b). Amendment No. 19 reflects the previous amendments to clarify that the parent or guardian of an employee may, with his or her consent, apply to the Circuit Court for an order directing an employer to comply with a Labour Court determination.

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