Derek McDowell (Labour)

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 6, to delete lines 26 to 28 and substitute the following:

"(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) and Schedule 2 of this Act, the employer shall arrange for the election of an employees' representative under this section.".

I am obliged to the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his indulgence. I apologise for my late arrival, I got caught in the gridlock on the quays which unfortunately is a reality of life in Dublin, even at lunchtime on a Thursday.

I see that amendment No. 14 is also part of this group. It states that if a court finds in favour of a complainant and finds fault with the process of a particular election one of its powers is to order a new election. When we debated this on Committee Stage the Minister of State indicated that he understood this to be an implicit power. I reintroduced it on this Stage because it is not clear to me that it is implicit.

I assume the Minister of State has had the opportunity to reconsider it with his officials and decide what is the position. If he tells me that it is implicit and the power clearly resides with the court I am happy to withdraw the amendment.

I suspect that others have already dealt with amendment No. 12. It specifies that the process should be one of election rather than selection or appointment, the principle being that somebody who represents employees should be elected by them and not simply appointed.