I move amendment No. 53:—
Before section 60, page 19, to insert the following new section:—
(1) Upon the coming into force of any rules under this Act—
(a) any provisions of an employment agreement then in force registered in the Register which relate to matters the subject of the rules, and
(b) any provisions of an order then in force made by the Labour Court under section 43 of the Act which relate to matters the subject of the rules,
shall cease to have effect in any apprenticeship district in which the rules have effect.
(2) Upon the commencement of a period specified by an apprenticeship committee under subsection (1) of section 35 of this Act—
(a) any provisions of an employment agreement then in force registered in the Register which relate to the number of persons to be taken into employment by way of apprenticeship in the trade, for which the committee is established, in the district of the committee, and
(b) any provisions of an order then in force made by the Labour Court under section 43 of the Act which relate to the number of persons to be taken into such employment in that trade and in that district,
shall cease to have effect in that district during that period.
(3) Where an employment agreement is, at a time when rules under this Act are in force, registered in the Register, any provisions of the agreement which relate to matters the subject of the rules shall not have effect in any apprenticeship district in which the rules have effect.
(4) Where an employment agreement is, at any time during a period specified by an apprenticeship committee under subsection (1) of section 35 of this Act, registered in the Register, any provisions of the agreement which relate to the number of persons to be taken into employment by way of apprenticeship in the trade, for which the committee is established, in the district of the committee shall not have effect in that district during the unexpired portion of that period.
(5) Where an order is, at a time when rules under this Act are in force, made by the Labour Court under section 43 of the Act, any provisions of the order which relate to matters the subject of the rules shall not have effect in any apprenticeship district in which the rules have effect.
(6) where an order is, at any time during a period specified by an apprenticeship committee under subsection (1) of section 35 of this Act, made by the Labour Court under section 43 of the Act, any provisions of the order which relate to the number of persons to be taken into employment by way of apprenticeship in the trade, for which the committee is established, in the district of the committee shall not have effect in that district during the unexpired portion of that period.
(7) In this section—
"the Act" means the Industrial Relations Act, 1946;
"the Register" means the Register of Employment Agreements maintained by the Labour Court under section 26 of the Act.
Under the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946, certain agreements registered with the Labour Court and Employment Regulation Orders made by the Court are enforceable at law. Matters touching on apprenticeship are sometimes covered by these agreements and Orders. The purpose of Section 60 is to ensure that nothing in such agreements or Orders dealing with apprenticeship shall have precedence over rules made by An Chomhairle or by an Apprenticeship Committee.
The section, as originally drafted, applied only to matters covered by rules made under the Bill. It is also necessary, however, that the section should apply to decisions taken by an Apprenticeship Committee under Section 35 relating to the number of apprentices to be taken into employment in the specified period. The section has been re-drafted to take account of this point. This amendment, in effect, substitutes a new section for the existing Section 60.