12. —(1) Each company shall appoint such members of staff, as the company thinks fit.

(2) A member of staff of a company shall hold his or her office or employment on such terms and conditions as the company determines.

(3) There shall be paid by a company to its members of staff such remuneration and allowances for expenses as the company thinks fit, subject to, in the case of its Chief Executive, section 29 of the Act of 1998.

F10[(4) Every person who is a member of the staff of daa working wholly or mainly in connection with Cork Airport immediately before the Cork appointed day shall, on that day, be transferred to and become a member of the staff of Cork Airport Authority.

(5) Every person who is a member of the staff of daa who is not working in connection with Dublin Airport, or immediately before the Cork appointed day, Cork Airport but whose work involves shared services in a State airport shall remain or be transferred to and become a member of the staff of the company which continues to provide the shared services or which is designated by the Minister to provide such services.]

(6) Where any dispute arises in relation to whether a person or group of persons is working wholly or mainly in connection with Cork Airport or Shannon Airport or where it cannot be determined whether a person or group of persons work wholly or mainly in connection with one or other of the State airports or in shared services, Dublin Airport Authority shall, following consultation with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, determine which company shall employ the person or group of persons concerned. The Minister may give directions as to the criteria to be applied in resolving the dispute.

(7) In relation to persons transferred to Cork Airport Authority or Shannon Airport Authority under subsection (4), (5) or (6), previous service with Aer Rianta or Dublin Airport Authority, as the case may be, shall be reckonable for the purposes of, but subject to any exceptions or exclusions in—

(a) the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2003,

(b) the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001,

(c) the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003,

(d) the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997,

(e) the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2001,

(f) the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2001,

(g) the Parental Leave Act 1998,

(h) the Carer's Leave Act 2001, and

(i) the Act of 1977.

(8) Any superannuation benefits awarded to or in respect of a person to whom subsection (4), (5) or (6) applies and the terms and conditions relating to those benefits shall not be less favourable than the entitlement existing immediately before the relevant appointed day.

(9) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, a person transferred to a company in accordance with subsection (4), (5) or (6), shall not, while in the service of the company, be brought to less beneficial conditions of service or of remuneration than the conditions of service or of remuneration to which he or she was subject immediately before the relevant appointed day.

(10) Until such time as the scales of pay and conditions of service of persons transferred to a company in accordance with subsection (4), (5) or (6), are varied by the company, following consultation with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, the scales of pay to which those persons were entitled and the conditions of service, restrictions, requirements and obligations to which they were subject immediately before their transfer shall continue to apply to them and may be applied or imposed by the company while they are in its service. As provided in subsection (9), no such variation shall operate to worsen the scales of pay and conditions of service applicable to such persons immediately before the relevant appointed day, save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned.

(11) Without prejudice to subsections (9) and (10), the form of any new collective agreements and the bargaining structures through which they are arrived at and developed, following the Cork appointed day and the Shannon appointed day, shall be the subject of discussions with the recognised trade union or staff association concerned for the period of not more than 6 months from the passing of this Act.

(12) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, a person who was a member of the staff of Aer Rianta immediately before the Dublin appointed day, and continues as a member of the staff of Dublin Airport Authority after the Dublin appointed day, shall not, while in the service of Dublin Airport Authority, be brought to less beneficial conditions of service or of remuneration than the conditions of service or of remuneration to which he or she was subject immediately before the Dublin appointed day. In the case of the person carrying out the duties of the Chief Executive of Aer Rianta the terms and conditions of service and of remuneration of the Chief Executive must be determined in accordance with section 29(4) of the Act of 1998.

(13) In this section “superannuation benefits” means pensions, gratuities and other allowances payable on resignation, retirement or death.