1.—(1) In this Act—

“agreement” means a collective agreement, an employment regulation order or a registered employment agreement;

“break” means the interval during which a child or young person may not be permitted under this Act to work;

F1[“child” means a person who has not reached the age of 16 years;]

“collective agreement” means an agreement by or on behalf of an employer on the one hand, and by or on behalf of a trade union or trade unions representative of the employees to whom the agreement relates on the other hand;

“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 the third person is party to the contract),

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

“the Council Directive” means Council Directive No. 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994⁽¹⁾ on the protection of young people at work, the text of which, with the exception of Section II and the Annex thereto, is set out for convenience of reference in the First Schedule’,

“day” means a period of 24 consecutive hours commencing at midnight;

“employee” means a child or a young person 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 member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as 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 F2[Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014),] a harbour authority, a health board or F3[a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F3[or board], as the case may be;

“employer” in relation to an employee, means 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;

“employment regulation order” means an employment regulation order within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 1990;

“hours of work” does not include periods of rest during which the employee is not required to be available for work;

“industrial work” means such work as the Minister may declare by order under section 2 to be industrial work for the purposes of this Act;

“inspector” means a person appointed by the Minister under section 22 to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act;

“light work” means all work which is not industrial work and which, on account of the inherent nature of the tasks which it involves and the particular conditions under which they are performed, is not likely to be harmful to the safety, health or development of children, and is not such as to be harmful to their attendance at school, their participation in vocational guidance or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise and Employment;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“registered employment agreement” means a registered employment agreement within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 1990;

“representatives of employees” means such trade unions as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of the employees in relation to whom the expression is used, or where there is no such trade union, such persons as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of such employees;

“representatives of employers” means such associations as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of the employers in relation to whom the expression is used, or where there is no such association, such persons as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of such employers;

“rest period” means any period which is not working time;

F4[…]

“trade union” means a body entitled under the Trade Union Act, 1941, to carry on negotiations for the fixing of wages or other conditions of employment;

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal;

“week” means a period of 7 consecutive days;

“working time” means any period during which a young person is at work, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his or her activity or duties;

F5[‘young person’ means a person who has reached the age of 16 years but has not reached the age of 18 years.]

(2) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in this Act that it has in the Council Directive.

(3) In construing a provision of this Act, a court shall give to it a construction that will give effect to the Council Directive, and for this purpose a court shall have regard to the provisions of the Council Directive, including the preamble.

(4) In this Act a reference to a section or Schedule, is a reference to a section of, or Schedule to, this Act, unless there is an indication that a reference to any other enactment is intended.

(5) In this Act a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless there is an indication that a reference to some other provision is intended.