18.—(1) If, by regulations under the 1989 Act implementing the 1992 Directive, an employer is required to move an employee to whom this Part applies to other work (whether as a result of a risk assessment or because the employee cannot be required to perform night work), but—

(a) it is not technically or objectively feasible for the employer to move the employee as required by the regulations, or

(b) such a move cannot reasonably be required on duly substantiated grounds, or

(c) the other work to which the employer proposes to move the employee is not suitable for her,

the employee shall be granted leave from her employment under this section.

(2) Where an employee is granted leave under this section, she shall be entitled to receive, on request to her employer, a certificate, in such form as may be determined by regulations—

(a) stating that she has been granted leave for whichever of the reasons in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) is appropriate in the circumstances and containing such supplementary information as the regulations may require; and

(b) specifying the date on which the leave began and its expected duration.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) (c), other work is suitable for an employee if it is—

(a) of a kind which is suitable in relation to the employee concerned, as an employee to whom this Part applies; and

(b) appropriate for the employee to do in all the circumstances.

(4) For the first 21 days of leave granted to an employee by an employer under this section in any relevant period, the employee shall be entitled to receive from the employer remuneration of an amount determined in accordance with regulations.

(5) Regulations under subsection (2) or subsection (4) shall be made by the Minister after consultation with—

(a) the Minister for Finance;

(b) the Minister for Social Welfare; and

(c) the Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

(6) In subsection (4) “relevant period”, in relation to an employee, means the period beginning with her pregnancy and continuing beyond any confinement resulting from that pregnancy until she ceases to be an employee who has recently given birth or, as the case may be, an employee who is breastfeeding.

(7) Regulations under subsection (4) may provide that such day or days as may be determined under the regulations shall be left out of account in calculating the 21 days referred to in that subsection.