Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

Frankly, I did not understand the thinking behind the amendment although the Senator has now explained it. I believe the situation she is worried about is addressed. I will give her the official response and we may discuss it further if she wishes.

The purpose of this section of the Act is to make the employee's job secure while absent from work on adoptive or additional leave. This section of the Bill broadens the existing provisions of section 16 of the principal Act by adding "absences while attending any required pre-placement classes or meetings". The new section invalidates certain actions of the employer where they are done by him or her during an employee's absence on adoptive leave, additional leave or absence from work to attend any required pre-placement classes or meetings. These actions are terminating an employee's employment during the absence or giving notice during the absence of termination of an employee's employment, which notice would expire subsequent to the absence.

Subsections 16(a) and 16(b) prevent two different actions by the employer. Subsection 16(a) prohibits termination during protective leave while subsection 16(b) prohibits a notice of termination being given during protective leave, which becomes effective once the employee returns to work, after protective leave. In other words, if the situation to which Senator Tuffy refers had occurred and the notice expired while the employee was still on leave, that would be covered by section 16(a) because the employer would effectively terminate the employment during the adoptive leave.