2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

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

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

“Act of 1993” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993;

“Act of 2000” means the Social Welfare Act, 2000;

“appeals officer” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1993;

“associated employer” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2);

“carer’s leave” shall be construed in accordance with section 6;

“confirmation document” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10;

“continuous employment” shall be construed in accordance with section 7(6);

“contract of employment” means—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, and

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency, within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971, and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not that third person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and, if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

“deciding officer” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1993;

“dispute” shall be construed in accordance with section 17;

“employee” means a person of any age, who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purposes of this Act, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956) shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, and an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the F1[Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014)], or of a harbour authority F2[or health board, or a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F2[or board], as the case may be;

“employer” means, in relation to an employee—

(a) the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment, subject to the qualification that the person who under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” is liable to pay the wages of the individual concerned in respect of the work or service concerned shall be deemed to be the individual’s employer, and

(b) includes, where appropriate, the successor of the employer or an associated employer of the employer;

“full-time care and attention” shall be construed in accordance with section 82A (inserted by the Act of 2000) of Chapter 11A of Part II of the Act of 1993;

F3[‘Minister’ means the Minister for Justice and Equality;]

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

“relevant person” has the meaning assigned to it by section 82A(1) (inserted by the Act of 2000) of Chapter 11A of Part II of the Act of 1993;

“successor” has the meaning assigned to it by section 14(1)(a);

“Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, 2 employers shall be taken to be associated if one is a body corporate of which the other (whether directly or indirectly) has control or if both are bodies corporate of which a third person (whether directly or indirectly) has control and “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.

(3) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a Part or section is a reference to a Part or section of this Act, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b) a reference to a subsection or paragraph is a reference to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended, and

(c) a reference to any enactment shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by or under any subsequent enactment.