Employment Permits Act 2006

Interpretation.

1.— (1) In this Act—

“ Act of 2003 ” means the Employment Permits Act 2003 ;

“ application ” means an application under section 4 ;

“ application by a foreign national ” shall be construed in accordance with section 4 (4);

“ citizen ” means an Irish citizen within the meaning of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 ;

“ economic sector ” means a sector of the economy concerned with a specific economic activity requiring specific qualifications, skills or knowledge;

“ employer ” means the employer (as defined in the Act of 2003) who—

(a) employs a foreign national pursuant to an employment permit, or

(b) in the case of a permit granted on foot of an application by a foreign national, for the time being employs a foreign national pursuant to an employment permit;

“ employment permit ” means an employment permit granted under section 8 ;

“ employment regulation order ” means an order under section 48 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 ;

“holder”, in relation to an employment permit, means the foreign national to whom it has been granted;

“ Member State of the EEA ” means a state that is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as amended for the time being;

“ Minister ” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

“ national minimum hourly rate of pay ” has the meaning assigned to it by the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 ;

“ foreign national ” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2003;

“ foreign national concerned ” shall be construed in accordance with section 5 (1);

“ prescribed ” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

“ public interest ” includes—

(a) public order and the interests of national security,

(b) public health and safety, and

(c) the need to protect the labour market;

“ registered employment agreement ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 25 of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 ;

“ remuneration ”, in relation to an employee, means—

(a) any consideration, whether in cash or in kind, which the employee receives, directly or indirectly, from the employer in respect of the employment, and

(b) any amounts the employee will be entitled to receive on foot of any pension scheme or arrangement.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a person (the “first person”) is not, by virtue of the following contract with another (the “second person”), an employer of the second person.

(3) That contract is one which—

(a) provides that the second person is to do work or perform a service for a third person (whether the third person is a party to the contract or not), and

(b) has been entered into by the first person in the course of carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act 1971 ,

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