33.— (1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Education and Skills, designate a person who, immediately before the designation, is a member of the staff of An Foras (other than a fixed-term employee) for appointment to an unestablished position in the Civil Service.

(2) A person designated under subsection (1) shall, on the appointment day, stand appointed to such unestablished position in the Civil Service as is specified in the designation.

(3) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Education and Skills, designate a person who, immediately before the designation, is a fixed-term employee of An Foras for appointment to an unestablished position in the Civil Service for the period remaining unexpired under the contract of employment under which he or she was employed by An Foras.

(4) A person designated under subsection (3) shall, on the appointment day, stand appointed to such unestablished position in the Civil Service as is specified in the designation for the period remaining unexpired under the contract of employment under which he or she was employed by An Foras.

(5) A designation under this section shall be in writing.

(6) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, a person appointed under this section shall not, on the appointment day, be brought to less beneficial conditions of remuneration than the conditions of remuneration to which he or she was subject immediately before the appointment day.

(7) The previous service with An Foras of a person appointed under this section shall be reckonable for the purposes of, but subject to, any exceptions or exclusions in:

(a) the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007;

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

(c) the Act of 2003;

(d) the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997;

(e) the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 and 2001;

(f) the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005;

(g) the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007;

(h) the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004;

(i) the Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2006;

(j) the Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005;

(k) the Carer’s Leave Act 2001.

(8) The rules of a superannuation scheme, or superannuation schemes, that at the appointment day govern benefits applicable to or in respect of a person appointed under this section shall continue to apply to or in respect of that person after the appointment day, save in accordance with a collective agreement with a recognised trade union or staff association and the approval of the Minister for Finance.

(9) Where the rules of a superannuation scheme, or superannuation schemes, referred to in subsection (8) provide for the exercise of discretion, the Minister for Finance shall, on and after the appointment day, exercise any such discretion.

(10) The pension payments and other superannuation liabilities of An Foras in respect of its former members of staff who have been appointed under this section become, on the appointment day, the liabilities of the Minister for Finance.

(11) A person appointed under this section shall undertake such duties as the Minister may from time to time direct.

(12) A person appointed under this section shall be subject to and employed in accordance with the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005 and the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001.

(13) (a) The Minister shall, by order, appoint a day (in this section referred to as the “appointment day”) for the purposes of this section.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a), the Minister may appoint different appointment days in respect of different classes of person designated under this section.

(14) In this section—

“Act of 2003” means the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003;

“Act of 2004” means the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004;

“Civil Service” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2004;

“contract of employment” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2003;

“fixed-term employee” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2003;

“recognised trade union or staff association” means a trade union or staff association recognised by the Minister for the purposes of negotiations which are concerned with the remuneration or conditions of employment, or the working conditions of employees;

“unestablished position” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2004.