Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

The Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to the Government has drafted this amendment to the Bill to deal with the concern of the Department of Finance that pension claims could be made by an ex fixed-term employee on his or her former employer many years after they have left that employment. This amendment will prevent such claims arising and means that section 15(3) of the Bill will be on exactly the same lines as section 16(3) of the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 15, as amended, agreed to.

Sections 16 and 17 agreed to.

SECTION 18.