11A.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), an employee shall be entitled to time off from work, without loss of pay, to attend any pre-adoption classes and meetings which the employee is obliged to attend.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply—

(a) to a member of the Defence Forces who is—

(i) on active service within the meaning of section 5 of the Defence Act 1954 or deemed to be on active service within the meaning of section 4(1) of the Defence (Amendment)(No. 2) Act 1960,

(ii) engaged in operational duties at sea,

(iii) engaged in operations in aid of the civil power,

(iv) engaged in training that is directly associated with any of the activities referred to in subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph, or

(v) engaged in any other duty outside the State,

(b) if the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces in exceptional circumstances so directs, to a member of the Defence Forces who is required to perform a duty which is, in the opinion of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, of a special or urgent nature for so long as the member is performing the duty,

(c) to a member of the Garda Síochána who is on the direction, or with the consent, of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána serving outside the State and performing duties of a police character or advising others on, or monitoring them in, the performance of such duties or any related duties for so long as the member is so serving, and

(d) if the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána in exceptional circumstances so directs, to a member of the Garda Síochána who is required to perform a duty which is, in the opinion of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, of a special or urgent nature for so long as the member is performing the duty.

(3) (a) In this subsection "classes" refers to the pre-adoption classes and meetings mentioned in subsection (1).

(b) The entitlement of an employee to time off under subsection (1) is subject to his or her having—

(i) notified the employer in writing of the dates and times of the classes concerned, or the date and time of each class, as soon as practicable but not later than 2 weeks before the date of the first class, or the class concerned, as the case may be, and

(ii) produced to the employer, on request, an appropriate document indicating the dates and times of the classes, or the date and time of the class, concerned.

(c) Where the circumstances are such that, in the case of a particular class, non-compliance by the employee with paragraph (b) is not due to any neglect or default by the employee in relation to attendance at the class, the employee is deemed to have complied with the requirements of that paragraph if, not later than one week after the date of the class concerned, he or she provides the employer with evidence of the attendance and an indication of the circumstances which gave rise to the non-compliance.

(4) References in this section to pre-adoption classes and meetings are references to such classes and meetings held within the State.]