4.— (1) Subject to subsection (2), dismissals proposed by an employer together constitute exceptional collective redundancies for the purposes of this Part if, were they to take effect, they would be dismissals of the kind referred to in section 7(2A) of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 (inserted by section 16).

(2) For the avoidance of doubt, it is declared that this Part does not apply to—

(a) the employment of agency workers for temporary or recurring business needs, or

(b) the use of outsourcing, contracting-out or other forms of business restructuring,

in circumstances other than those referred to in section 7(2A) of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967.