(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act applies to all persons in employment on or after the commencement of this Act in an establishment normally employing more than 20 persons.

(2) This Act does not apply to -

(a) dismissals of employees engaged under a contract of employment for a fixed term or for a specified purpose (being a purpose of such a kind that the duration of the contract was limited but was, at the time of its making, incapable of precise ascertainment) where the dismissals occurred only because of the expiry of the term or the cesser of the purpose,

(b) a person employed by or under the State other than persons standing designated for the time being under section 17 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969,

(c) officers of a body which is a local authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014),

(d) employment under an employment agreement pursuant to Part II or IV of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

(e)[deleted]

(3)

(a) The Minister may by order declare that this Act shall not apply to a class of employees specified in the order and from the commencement of the order this Act shall not apply to that class.