PART I

Preliminary and General

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Adoptive Leave Act, 1995.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister shall by order appoint.

2. —(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1967” means the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 ;

“the Act of 1977” means the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 ;

“adoptive leave” has the meaning assigned to it by section 6

“additional adoptive leave” has the meaning assigned to it by section 8

“adopting father” means a male employee in whose care a child has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption, where the adopting mother has died;

“adopting mother” means a woman, including an employed adopting mother, in whose care a child (of whom she is not the natural mother) has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption;

“adopting parent” means employed adopting mother, adopting father or sole male adopter;

“associated employer” shall be construed in accordance with section 19 (3);

“certificate of placement” has the meaning assigned to it by section 13 ;

“contract of employment” means, subject to subsection (2)—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, or

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with a person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971 , and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for another person (whether or not that other person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

“day of placement” means—

(a) the day on which the child is placed physically in the care of the adopting parent with a view to the making of an adoption order, or

(b) the day on which the child is placed physically in the care of the adopting parent with a view to the effecting of a foreign adoption, or

(c) in the case of a foreign adoption, where the child has not previously been placed in the care of the adopting parent, the day on which the child has been so placed following the adoption;

“employed adopting mother” means a female employee in whose care a child (of whom she is not the natural mother) has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption;

“employee”, subject to subsection (2), means (except in Part IV ) a person who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;

“employer”, subject to subsection (2), means, in relation to an employee, the person with whom the employee has entered into, or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;

“foreign adoption” has the meaning assigned to it by the Adoption Act, 1991 ;

“health board” means a health board established pursuant to the Health Act, 1970 ;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Equality and Law Reform;

“prescribed” means prescribed by order or regulation under this Act;

“registered adoption society” means a body of persons entered in the Adoption Societies Register kept by An Bord Uchtála under Part IV of the Adoption Act, 1952 ;

“sole male adopter” means a male employee who is not an adopting father within the meaning of this Act and in whose sole care a child has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption;

“the successor” has the meaning assigned to it by section 18 ;

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

(2) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as a civil servant, within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 , shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, under a contract of service;

(b) an officer or servant of a local authority, for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 , a harbour authority, a health board or a vocational education committee shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority, board or committee, as the case may be, under a contract of service; and

(c) in relation to an employee whose contract of employment falls (or, where the employment has ceased, fell) within paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” in subsection (1), the person who is liable to pay her wages shall be deemed to be her employer.

(3) In this Act, a reference to a Part or section is to a Part or section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(4) In this Act, a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(5) In this Act, a reference to any enactment includes a reference to that enactment as amended by any other enactment including this Act.

3. —(1) An order or regulation under this Act may contain such consequential, supplementary and ancillary provisions as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

(2) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this Act, including an order under this subsection.

(3) Where an order is proposed to be made under this Act, a draft of the order shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

(4) Before making an order or regulation under this Act, the Minister shall consult such organisations or other bodies of persons representative of employers and such organisations or other bodies of persons representative of trades unions or bodies analogous to trades unions as the Minister considers appropriate.

(5) Subsections (1) to (4) do not apply to an order under section 1 (2).

(6) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which the House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulation.

4. —(1) In this section “agreement” means an agreement, whether a contract of employment or not, and whether made before or after the commencement of this Act.

(2) A provision in an agreement shall be void in so far as it purports to exclude or limit the application of any provision of this Act or is inconsistent with any provision of this Act.

(3) A provision in an agreement which is or becomes less favourable in relation to an adopting parent than a similar or corresponding entitlement conferred on her by this Act shall be deemed to be so modified as to be not less favourable to her.

(4) Nothing in this or any other enactment shall be construed as prohibiting the inclusion in an agreement of a provision (subsequently referred to in this section as “the additional provision”) in relation to adoption, in addition to those required by this Act, the effect of which would be to render the agreement more favourable to an adopting parent than it would be if it did not include the additional provision.

(5) The inclusion of the additional provision in an agreement shall not, by reason of the fact that it applies to an adopting parent only, confer any right under this or any other enactment on an employee who is not an adopting parent.

5. —Any expenses incurred in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.