44.—(1) Every person who, immediately before the commencement of this Part, was employed by St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and who was paid, in respect of that employment, exclusively from moneys provided by the Oireachtas shall, on the commencement of this Part, become and be an employee of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

(2) Every person who, immediately before the commencement of this Part, was employed by St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and who was paid, in respect of that employment, partly by St. Patrick's College and partly from moneys provided by the Oireachtas shall, on the commencement of this Part, remain as an employee of St. Patrick's College on the date of commencement of this Part but may thereafter, with the agreement of St. Patrick's College and the governing authority of the university, become and be an employee of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

(3) A person to whom subsection (1) applies or who by virtue of subsection (2) becomes an employee of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth shall not, while in the service of the university, receive less remuneration or be subject to less beneficial conditions of service than the remuneration at the level to which he or she was entitled, and conditions of service to which he or she was subject, immediately before the commencement of this Part.

(4) The conditions of service, restrictions, requirements and obligations to which a person to whom subsection (3) applies was subject immediately before the commencement of this Part shall, unless they are varied by agreement, continue to apply to the person, and shall be exercised or imposed by the university or the chief officer as may be appropriate, while that person is in the service of the university.

(5) The university may, following consultation through normal industrial relations structures operating in the university with any recognised staff associations or trade unions concerned, redistribute or rearrange the duties to be performed by employees to whom subsection (3) applies and those employees shall be bound to perform the duties allocated in any such redistribution or rearrangement.

(6) A redistribution or rearrangement referred to in subsection (5) shall not be taken to be removal from or abolition of office for the purpose of any scheme or enactment relating to superannuation or compensation for loss of office.