Forestry Act, 1988

Provisions applicable to staff transferred to company.

43.—(1) The company shall accept into its employment with effect from the vesting day in accordance with the terms of this Act every person who immediately before the vesting day is a member of the staff of the Department of Energy and is designated, whether before, on or after the vesting day, by the Minister for employment by the company.

(2) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, a member of the staff of the Department of Energy referred to in subsection (1) shall not, while in the service of the company, be brought to less beneficial conditions of service or of remuneration than the conditions of service or of remuneration to which he was subject immediately before the vesting day.

(3) Until such time as the scales of pay and conditions of service of staff so transferred are varied by the company, following consultation with recognised trade unions and staff associations, the scales of pay to which they were entitled and the conditions of service, restrictions, requirements and obligations to which they were subject immediately before their transfer shall continue to apply to them and may be exercised or imposed by the company while they are in its service.

(4) The conditions in regard to tenure of office which are granted by the company in relation to a member of the staff so transferred shall not, while he is in the service of the company, be less favourable to him than those prevailing for the time being in the civil service; any alteration in the conditions in regard to tenure of office of any such member shall not be less favourable to him than the prevailing conditions in the civil service at the time of such alteration, save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned. If a dispute arises between the company and any such member as to conditions prevailing in the civil service, the matter shall be determined by the Minister for Finance after consultation with the Minister.

(5) In relation to staff transferred to the company, previous service in the civil service shall be reckonable for the purposes of, but subject to any other exceptions or exclusions in, the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 1984, the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973 , the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, 1973 and 1984, and the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 .