I move the amendment on the Order Paper:—
In the proposed new sub-section (5) of Section 8, to insert at the end thereof the words "unless such owners reside or have a place of business in Saorstát Eireann."
Deputies will recollect that when we were considering the amendments from the Seanad, we adjourned consideration of amendment No. 5, which provides:—
Where a person is employed by the owners of a ship which is not registered in Saorstát Eireann under the Merchant Shipping Acts, the agent of such owners shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be the employer of such workman.
It was suggested that it was undesirable that the owner of a ship on which a workman was injured should be exempted from liability to compensate the workman. The amendment was originally inserted by those who speak for the interests of workers employed in that way, who felt that it was preferable to have a right of action against the agent of the owner who had a place of business in this country rather than against an owner who might have no such place of business in the country. It is clear that it is not necessary to make that provision where the owner has a place of business here, and so it is proposed to add to the section the words "unless such owners reside or have a place of business in Saorstát Eireann." I think that meets the point raised.
