Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

He should focus on the employment relationship. If he focuses on the terms of the legislation we are considering, he will notice that the phrase "under the same contract of employment" in both contexts is linked with the concept of "last day of service" in the next sentence. If there is a day of service and a person happened not to be in the building during a defined period of time, there is a difficulty. It was to address that difficulty that the concept of the same contract of employment was introduced by the Parliamentary Counsel. Those who are in the custom and practice of working for a regular period each year in a defined branch of the public service have their rights protected and are not deemed to be new entrants.

Senator Mansergh posed a question about political advisers. They are civil servants of the Government attached to Departments in unestablished positions. They have somewhat different pension arrangements but there is nothing in the Bill to detract from the rule that henceforth they will be new entrants. That is clear. No special provision has been made for that category. Once again, the political class appears to be paying homage to the necessity for the enactment of this legislation.