(1) Sections 11, 12 and 13 shall apply only in relation to authorised trade unions which for the time being are holders of negotiation licences under the Trade Union Act, 1941, and the members and officials of such trade unions, and not otherwise.

(2) Where in relation to the employment or non-employment or the terms or conditions of or affecting the employment of one individual worker, there are agreed procedures availed of by custom or in practice in the employment concerned, or provided for in a collective agreement, for the resolution of individual grievances, including dismissals, sections 10, 11 and 12 shall apply only where those procedures have been resorted to and exhausted.

(3) Procedures shall be deemed to be exhausted if at any stage an employer fails or refuses to comply with them.

(4) The procedures referred to in subsection (2) may include resort to such persons or bodies as a rights commissioner, the Workplace Relations Commission, the Labour Court, the Director of Equality Investigations and the Employment Appeals Tribunal but shall not include an appeal to a court.