Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

The effect of this amendment would be to include nurses in training within the ambit of the Bill. Section 18(c), as drafted, excludes nurses in training from the scope of the Bill in accordance with clause 22A of the framework agreement, annexed to directive 1999/70/EC, which provides that member states, after consultation with the social partners, may provide that the agreement does not apply to paragraph (b) – initial vocational training relationships and apprenticeship schemes. The Department of Health and Children requested that nurses in training be specifically excluded from the Bill for the avoidance of doubt.