Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is also a technical amendment. It is being included for sake of consistency with the approach in the workplace relations Bill, which was approved by Government this week. The amendment does not make any substantive change in the text from a strict legal perspective, but it spells out in detail what the existing text - "judicial notice shall be taken" - means and, on that basis, it is useful in making the text more accessible to the reader and avoiding any doubt about the intention. Put briefly, the intention is that a code of practice, once signed into law by the Minister of the day, can be relied upon by employers, or employees, or any group of the public as a definitive guide to how to deal with particular issues or stay out of trouble and then can be relied upon in court if a dispute arises on that issue.

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