Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to collective redundancies consolidates two previous directives in this area. The two directives concerned, namely, Council Directive 75/129/EEC of 17 February 1975 and amending Council Directive 92/56/EEC of 24 June 1992, were transposed into Irish law by means of the Protection of Employment Act, 1977, the Protection of Employment Order, 1996, and the European Communities (Protection of Employment) Regulations, 2000. Accordingly, Irish law already fully meets the requirements of the European Union in this area and no further action is needed to implement the 1998 directive which is simply a consolidating measure.