Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Section 43, which was introduced on Report Stage of the Dáil, provides for an amendment to the definition of “Agriculture” in the Industrial Relations Act 1976, for the purposes of giving effect to the Labour Court recommendation on the scope of the agriculture JLC, arising from the 2013 review undertaken by the court of all existing joint labour committees.

In addition, section 46 of the Bill amends the original establishment order for the agriculture JLC to reflect the new definition in section 43. However, for the avoidance of doubt that the new definition may inadvertently be construed as having included meat processing plants within the scope of the agriculture JLC, it is proposed that the definition be explicit, that the scope of any employment regulation order, ERO, for the agriculture JLC would just cover workers on a farming establishment, which was the clear intention of the Labour Court recommendation.

An amendment to section 46, which itself amends the original establishment order for the agriculture JLC, is also required.