Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:“Repeals

4. The following provisions are repealed:

(a) section 10 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969;

(b) section 23(1)(d) of the Act of 1990;

(c) subsections (2), (5) and (6) of section 23 of the Act of 1990;

(d) sections 51 to 54 of the Act of 1990.”.

The amendment repeals a number of provisions of the Industrial Relations Acts. The repeal of section 10 of the 1969 Act arises from amendment No. 17, which provides for a mechanism by which an employer or a trade union representative of an employer affected by a registered employment agreement, REA, can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission that another employer affected by the REA has contravened the agreement.

Statutory Instrument No. 264 of 1998 amended the definition of "worker" in section 23(1)(d) of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 in order to give officers of local authorities access to the Labour Relations Commission, LRC, the Labour Court and the rights commissioners. Given that it is considered unsafe to rely on changes made to statute by secondary legislation, it is proposed to confirm the amendment in primary legislation. The definition of "local authority" in section 23(d) of the 1990 Act is being deleted in consequence of the deletion of section 23(1)(d).

The amendment also provides for the deletion of subsections (5) and (6) of section 23 of the Act of 1990. Section 23(5) provides that the Government may, by order, amend the definition of "worker" in section 23(1) and may by order revoke or amend any such order. Section 23(6) deals with the laying of such orders before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The effect of the amendments is to remove the power to make changes to the definition of "worker" by ministerial order and to ensure future changes to the definition of "worker" will have to be made by primary legislation.

The repeal of sections 51 to 54 of the 1990 Act deals with certain record keeping requirements and enforcement provisions regarding REAs. These provision will be superseded by new record keeping provisions regarding REAs and sectoral employment orders provided for in the Bill and the enforcement provisions in the Workplace Relations Act 2015.

See this speech in context