Telecommunications (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1996
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FIRST SCHEDULE Office of Director of Telecommunications Regulation | ||
1. The Director shall be a position in the Civil Service and shall be appointed by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance. | ||
2. A person appointed to be the Director shall hold office for such period not to exceed six years as the Minister shall determine on such terms and conditions consistent with this Act as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine and he or she shall be eligible for re-appointment. | ||
3. The first appointment to be made under this Act shall be made on or before the commencement of section 4 . | ||
4. The Director may— | ||
(a) at any time resign his or her office by letter addressed to the Secretary to the Government and the resignation shall take effect from the date of receipt of the letter, | ||
(b) be at any time removed from office by the Minister if, in the opinion of the Minister, he or she has become incapable through ill-health of effectively performing his or her functions or has committed stated misbehaviour. | ||
5. If the Director is removed from office under paragraph 4, the Minister shall cause to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas a statement of the reasons for the removal. | ||
6. The Director shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name. | ||
7. The Director shall not hold any other office or employment in respect of which emoluments are payable. | ||
8. A person who has held the office of Director shall not, for a period of eighteen months following his or her resignation, removal or retirement from the office of Director, hold any office or employment or act as a consultant where he or she may be liable to use or disclose information acquired by him or her in the exercise of the functions of the Director. | ||
9. Notwithstanding paragraph 8, a person who has held the office of Director may hold any office or engage in any employment in the Civil Service or act as a consultant to any Minister of the Government. | ||
10. The Director shall be independent in the exercise of his or her functions. | ||
11. The Minister may delegate to the Director the powers exercisable by him or her under the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 , and the Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958, as the appropriate authority in relation to members of the staff of the Director and so long as the delegation remains in force— | ||
(a) those powers shall, in lieu of being exercisable by the Minister, be exercisable by the Director, and | ||
(b) the Director shall, in lieu of the Minister, for the purposes of this Act be the appropriate authority in relation to members of the staff of the Director. | ||
12. The Director may— | ||
(a) with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine the number of staff to be appointed to the office of the Director, and | ||
(b) appoint to be members of his or her staff such persons as he or she may determine from time to time. | ||
13. The Director shall— | ||
(a) keep in such form as may be approved of by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, all proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by him or her, | ||
(b) submit the accounts kept in pursuance of subparagraph (a) in respect of each year to the Comptroller and Auditor General in the following year (not later than a date specified by the Minister) for audit, and | ||
(c) as soon as may be after the audit, present to the Minister a copy of those accounts, or of such extracts from those accounts as the Minister may specify, together with the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts, and the Minister shall cause copies of the documents so presented to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. | ||
14. The Director may perform such of his or her functions as he or she may deem proper through or by any officer of the Minister or any officer of the Director, as the case may require. | ||
15. The Director shall designate a member of his or her staff as Deputy-Director who shall assume all of the functions of the Director during periods of unavailability of the Director and carry out those functions with the authority of the Director. | ||
16. The Director shall in each year make a report to the Minister concerning the performance of his or her functions in the previous year and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be thereafter. | ||
17. (a) Where the Director is— | ||
(i) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, | ||
(ii) elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament or becomes a member of a local authority, or | ||
(iii) regarded pursuant to section 15 (inserted by the European Parliament Elections Act, 1993 ) of the European Assembly Elections Act, 1977 , as having been elected to such Parliament to fill a vacancy, | ||
he or she shall thereupon cease to be the Director. | ||
(b) A person who is for the time being— | ||
(i) entitled under the standing orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein, | ||
(ii) a member of the European Parliament, or | ||
(iii) entitled under the standing orders of a local authority to sit therein, | ||
shall, while he or she is so entitled or is such a member, be disqualified from holding the office of Director. | ||
(c) Where a person who holds the office of Director is nominated as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament or a local authority, he or she shall thereupon cease to hold the office of Director. |