1.—(1) In this Act—

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

F1[‘Act of 2015’ means the Workplace Relations Act 2015;]

F2[‘the Act of 1969’ means the Industrial Relations Act 1969;]

“the Act of 1973” means the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973;

“the Act of 1974” means the Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act, 1974;

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

“the Act of 1981” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981;

F3[‘the Act of 1990’ means the Industrial Relations Act 1990;

‘the Act of 1991’ means the Payment of Wages Act 1991;

‘the Act of 1994’ means the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994;

‘the Act of 1996’ means the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996;

‘the Act of 1997’ means the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997;

‘the Act of 1998’ means the Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998;

‘the Act of 2001’ means the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001;

‘the Act of 2002’ means the Competition Act 2002;

‘the Act of 2003’ means the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Time Work) Act 2003;

‘the Act of 2004’ means the Industrial Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004;]

F4[‘the Act of 2006’ means the Employment Permits Act 2006;]

F5[‘Act of 2011’ means the Criminal Justice Act 2011;]

“company” means, except when the context otherwise requires, a company within the meaning of section 2 of the Companies Act, 1963, or any other body corporate whether incorporated within or outside the State;

F8['competent authority' means—

(a) the authority referred to in Article 2(1) of the Directive, or

(b) in the case of an employer taken to be, or to have become, insolvent under paragraph (f) of subsection (3), an authority that is competent, pursuant to the laws, regulations and administrative procedures of the United Kingdom, to—

(i) appoint a liquidator or a person performing a similar task,

(ii) open collective proceedings based on the insolvency of the employer, or

(iii) establish that the employers undertaking or business has been definitively closed down and that the available assets are insufficient to warrant the opening of such proceedings;]

F8[‘Directive’ means Directive 2008/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008²⁰on the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer;]

“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under (or, in the case of a contract which has been terminated, worked under) a contract with an employer, whether the contract is for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise, is express or implied, oral or in writing, and whether it is a contract of service or apprenticeship or otherwise, and “employer” and any reference to employment shall be construed accordingly;

“holiday pay” means—

(a) pay in respect of a holiday actually taken; or

(b) any holiday pay which had accrued at the date of the termination of the employee’s employment and which, had his employment with the employer continued until he became entitled to a holiday, would under the employee’s contract of employment in the ordinary course have become payable to him on becoming so entitled;

F3[‘Member State’ means a Member State of the European Union]

“the Minister” means the Minister for Labour;

“occupational pension scheme” means any scheme or arrangement which, forming part of a contract of employment, provides or is capable of providing, in relation to employees in any description of employment, benefits (in the form of pensions or otherwise) payable to or in respect of any such employees on the termination of their employment or on their death or retirement;

F8['relevant officer' means—

(a) where the employer is insolvent in the State and the employees concerned are employed or habitually employed in the State, an executor, an administrator, the official assignee or a trustee in bankruptcy, a liquidator, a receiver or manager, a trustee under an arrangement between an employer and his creditors or under a trust deed for his creditors executed by an employer,

(b) where the employer is an undertaking which is insolvent under the laws, regulations and administrative procedures of another Member State in accordance with Article 2(1) of the Directive, and the employees concerned are employed or habitually employed in the State, the person appointed by the appropriate competent authority to perform the functions of a relevant officer, or

(c) where the employer is insolvent under the laws, regulations and administrative procedures of the United Kingdom, and the employees concerned are employed or habitually employed in the State, the person appointed by the appropriate competent authority to perform the functions of a relevant officer;]

F9[‘the Social Insurance Fund’ means the Social Insurance Fund established under section 39 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952, and continued in being under section 122 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981;]

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

F8[‘United Kingdom’ includes a territory or other place for whose external relations the United Kingdom is responsible and in which the law of the European Union applied while the United Kingdom was a Member State;]

(2) Any reference in this Act to the assets of an occupational pensions scheme is a reference to the funds or other property out of which the benefits provided by the scheme are payable from time to time, including the proceeds of any policy of insurance taken out, or contract entered into, for the purposes of the scheme.

(3) For the purposes of this Act, an employer shall be taken to be or, as may be appropriate, to have become insolvent if, but only if,

(a) he has been adjudicated bankrupt or has filed a petition for or has executed a deed of, arrangement (within the meaning of section 4 of the Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1887); or

(b) he has died and his estate, being insolvent, is being administered in accordance with the rules set out in Part I of the First Schedule to the Succession Act, 1965; or

(c) where the employer is a company, a winding up order is made or a resolution for voluntary winding up is passed with respect to it, or a receiver or manager of its undertaking is duly appointed, or possession is taken, by or on behalf of the holders of any debentures secured by any floating charge, of any property of the company F10[comprised in or subject to the charge; or]

(d) he is an employer of a class or description specified in regulations under section 4 (2) of this Act which are for the time being in force and the circumstances specified in the regulations as regards employers of such class or description obtain F10[in relation to him; or]

F12[(e) the employer is an undertaking which is insolvent under the laws, regulations and administrative procedures of another Member State in accordance with Article 2(1) of the Directive, and the employees concerned are employed or habitually employed in the State; or]

F13[(f) the employer is insolvent under the laws, regulations and administrative procedures of the United Kingdom and the employees concerned are employed or habitually employed in the State.]