13.—(1) The Commission may, and at the request of the Minister shall, study every industry and sector of employment for the purposes of identifying obstacles that may exist in that industry or sector to persons being able to perform part-time work in that industry or sector and make recommendations as to how any such obstacles so identified could be eliminated.

(2) The Commission shall report to the Minister in relation to any study and recommendations made by it under subsection (1) (whether that study and those recommendations have been made of its own volition or not) and shall publish, in such manner as it thinks appropriate, that study and those recommendations.

(3) Any such publication may include such practical guidance for the industries and sectors of employment concerned with regard to the steps that may be taken to implement the recommendations of the Commission as the Commission thinks appropriate.

(4) In formulating recommendations under subsection (1), the Commission shall invite such organisations representative of employers, such organisations representative of employees, and such other bodies as the Commission considers appropriate, to make submissions, whether orally or in writing, to it in relation to the proposed recommendations, and shall have regard to any submissions made to it, in response to the invitation, by such organisations or bodies.

(5) The Commission shall, after consultation with organisations and bodies of the kind referred to in subsection (4), determine the extent to which the preparation of a code of practice under this subsection with respect to the steps that could be taken by employers for the purposes of Clause 5.3 of the Framework Agreement would, in its opinion, be of practical benefit to employees and employers and may, if in its opinion the preparation of such code would be of sufficient practical benefit to those persons, prepare and publish such a code accordingly.

(6) The Commission may, after consultation with the organisations and bodies referred to in subsection (5), amend or revoke, or replace with another code of practice thereunder, a code of practice under subsection (5); the Commission shall publish any such replacement code or, as appropriate, publish notice of the making of any such amendment and its nature or any such revocation, as the case may be.

(7) In this section—

“Commission” means the Labour Relations Commission;

“obstacles” includes obstacles arising by virtue of the operation of any enactment and the following of any practice;

“part-time work” means work which, if it were performed, would result in the person performing it being regarded as a part-time employee for the purposes of this Act.