Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Section 7, subsection 11A(1) of the Bill as passed by the Seanad entitles employees time off to attend obligatory pre-adoption classes and meetings in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under subsection 11A (3). During the Bill's passage through the Dáil it became apparent that subsection 11A(3)(a) could be open to an interpretation contradictory to subsection 11A (1) to the effect of giving the Minister the power in regulations to reduce the entitlement by limiting the number of classes or meetings which the employee can attend. Consequently, amendment No. 5 removes subsection 11A(3)(a) for the avoidance of any doubt on the matter so that the Minister no longer has the power to limit this entitlement by regulation.

Amendment No. 6 also amends 11A(3) so that matters intended to be dealt with under regulations are brought into the Bill. This simplifies the legislation and has the further advantage of avoiding a delay of a number of months which would be required to draft and make separate regulations under section 7.

Amendment No. 4 is a technical amendment introduced as a consequence of amendments Nos. 5 and 6.