(1) Schedule 3 of the Principal Act (as amended by the Act of 1971), which relates to the amount of the lump sum under the Principal Act, is amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph 1:

"2. In calculating the amount of the lump sum any part of an employee's earnings per annum in excess of £5,000 shall be disregarded.".

(2) The Minister may by regulations made with the consent of the Minister for Finance -

(a) vary the amount of £5,000 referred to in paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 of the Principal Act (inserted by this section), and

(b) alter the method of calculation of a lump sum under the Principal Act.

(3) When making regulations under subsection (2) of this section, the Minister shall take into account any changes in the average earnings of workers in the transportable goods industries as recorded by the Central Statistics Office since the date by reference to which the sum specified in subsection (1) of this section was last determined.

(4)

(a) Subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, the Redundancy Payments (Weekly Payments and Lump Sum) Order, 1974 (S.I. No. 82 of 1974), and the Redundancy Payments (Weekly Payments) Order, 1976 (S.I. No. 126 of 1976), shall cease to have effect from the commencement of this section.