Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

This section makes no change whatsoever to existing law. Its purpose is to incorporate the relevant provisions contained in SI 337 of 2001 into the maternity protection and unfair dismissals legislation by amending the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 to provide for the repeal of the provisions of the statutory instrument. If anyone needs me to go through that in more detail, I will be happy to do so. It does not represent any substantial change in the law.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 21 agreed to.

Government amendment No. 66:

In page 23, before section 22, to insert the following new section:

22.–Schedule 3 to the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 is amended–

(a) in paragraph 5 (which specifies periods which do not breach continuity of employment) inserted by section 12(a) of the Redundancy Payments Act 2003) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (c):

'(c) a period during which an employee was absent from work–

(i) while on protective leave or natal care absence, within the meaning of Part IV of the Maternity Protection Act 1994 or to attend ante-natal classes in accordance with section 15A (inserted by section 7 of the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2003, or for breastfeeding in accordance with section 15B (inserted by section 8 of the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2003), of the first-mentioned Act,

(ii) while on parental leave or force majeure leave, or

(iii) while on carer's leave under the Carer's Leave Act 2001,',

and

(b) in paragraph 8A (which specifies absences allowable as reckonable service) (inserted by section 12(b) of the Redundancy Payments Act 2003) by the substitution of the following paragraph for subparagraph (b):

'(b) a period during which an employee was absent from work–