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Exemption in respect of certain payments under employment law.
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7.—The Principal Act is amended in Chapter 1 of Part 7 by inserting the following after section 192:
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“192A.—(1) In this section—
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‘relevant Act’ means an enactment which contains provisions for the protection of employees' rights and entitlements or for the obligations of employers towards their employees;
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relevant authority' means any of the following—
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(a) a right commissioner,
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(b) the Director of Equality Investigations,
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(c) the Employment Appeals Tribunal,
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(d) the Labour Court,
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(e) the Circuit Court, or
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(f) the High Court.
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(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (5), this section applies to a payment under a relevant Act, to an employee or former employee by his or her employer or former employer, as the case may be, which is made, on or after 4 February 2004, in accordance with a recommendation, decision or a determination by a relevant authority in accordance with the provisions of that Act.
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(3) A payment made in accordance with a settlement arrived at under a mediation process provided for in a relevant Act shall be treated as if it had been made in accordance with a recommendation, decision or determination under that Act of a relevant authority.
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(4) (a) Subject to subsection (5) and without prejudice to any of the terms or conditions of an agreement referred to in this subsection, this section shall apply to a payment—
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(i) made, on or after 4 February 2004, under an agreement evidenced in writing, being an agreement between persons who are not connected with each other (within the meaning of section 10), in settlement of a claim which—
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(I) had it been made to a relevant authority, would have been a bona fide claim made under the provisions of a relevant Act,
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(II) is evidenced in writing, and
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(III) had the claim not been settled by the agreement, is likely to have been the subject of a recommendation, decision or determination under that Act by a relevant authority that a payment be made to the person making the claim,
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(ii) the amount of which does not exceed the maximum payment which, in accordance with a decision or determination by a relevant authority (other than the Circuit Court or the High Court) under the relevant Act, could have been made under that Act in relation to the claim, had the claim not been settled by agreement, and
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(iii) where—
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(I) copies of the agreement and the statement of claim are kept and retained by the employer, by or on behalf of whom the payment was made, for a period of six years from the day on which the payment was made, and
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(II) the employer has made copies of the agreement and the statement of claim available to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners where the officer has requested the employer to make those copies available to him or her.
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(b) (i) On being so requested by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, an employer shall make available to the officer all copies of—
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(I) such agreements as are referred to in paragraph (a) entered into by or on behalf of the employer, and
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(II) the statements of claim related to those agreements,
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kept and retained by the employer in accordance with subparagraph (iii) of that paragraph.
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(ii) The officer may examine and take extracts from or copies of any documents made available to him or her under this subsection.
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(5) This section shall not apply to so much of a payment under a relevant Act or an agreement referred to in subsection (4) as is—
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(a) a payment, however described, in respect of remuneration including arrears of remuneration, or
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(b) a payment referred to in section 123(1) or 480(2)(a).
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(6) Payments to which this section applies shall be exempt from income tax and shall not be reckoned in computing total income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.”.
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