Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Under section 2 of the Interpretation Act, on page 6, "fixed-term employee" means a person having a contract of employment entered into directly with an employer where the end of the contract of employment concerned is determined by an objective condition, such as arriving at a specific date, completing a specific task or the occurrence of a specific event, but does not include employees in initial vocational training relationships or apprenticeship schemes or employees with a contract of employment. This provision is included because the Department of Health and Children specifically requested that nurses in training be excluded from the Bill for the avoidance of doubt.