Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act, 2001

• Permanent Page URL

Declaration of interests.

28.—(1) On his or her appointment, the chief executive and each member of the Agency shall make a declaration in writing of his or her interests to the Minister, in such form as the Minister, following consultation with the Minister for Finance, may specify.

(2) On his or her appointment, each consultant and each member of the staff of the Agency at a grade or level specified before the appointment by the Agency, following consultation with the Minister, shall declare his or her interests in writing to the chairperson of the Agency and the chairperson shall inform the Agency at its next meeting of the interests declared and the names of those making the declarations.

(3) A person to whom subsection (1) or (2) applies shall, throughout the tenure of his or her appointment, amend and update his or her declarations of interests as required by the Minister or the Agency, as the case may be, of any changes in the interests held by the person.

(4) (a)  A statement of the interests declared under subsection (1) shall be included in the next report prepared in accordance with section 18 following the making of the declaration and any subsequent changes in a declaration shall also be included in a statement in the next available report.

(b)  The form and content of the statement to be included in such report shall be agreed between the chairperson of the Agency, the Minister and the Minister for Finance.

(c)  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), it shall not be necessary to specify in a statement in such report the amount or monetary value of any interest, or the remuneration of any trade, profession, or employment included in the statement.

(5) In this section:

“employment” includes—

(a) full-time employment,

(b) part-time paid employment, where such employment is ongoing in the year of appointment or which arises in subsequent years,

(c) temporary paid employment, being for a period of 16 weeks or more in the year of appointment or in subsequent years, or

(d) being retained under contract, directly or indirectly, in any capacity as an adviser, consultant or lobbyist, or for the provision of services,

by or in any business related to the functions of the Agency;

“interests” includes—

(a) employment by or on behalf of—

(i) any business related to the functions of the Agency,

(ii) any organisation representative of any business related to the functions of the Agency,

(b) ownership of any business related to the functions of the Agency,

(c) shares in, bonds or debentures of, or other like investments in any business related to the functions of the Agency, where the aggregate of such holdings exceed €13,000 (£10,238.33),

(d) a directorship or shadow directorship (within the meaning of the Companies Acts, 1963 to 2001) in any business related to the functions of the Agency, held currently or during the previous two years, or

(e) gifts of travel, holidays, transport, money (in excess of €650 (£511.92)) or other benefits, including benefits from any beneficial interest in or connected with any business related to the functions of the Agency, during the previous two years which were received by the person being appointed or by his or her spouse;

“ownership” includes any proprietary interest in any business related to the functions of the Agency, whether that interest is freehold, leasehold or beneficial, and shall apply—

(a) where the interest is held solely by the person being appointed or shared with one or more persons, or

(b) where the interest, at the time of appointment, has a value of €20,000 (£15,751.28) or more.

(6) The Agency shall, for the purposes of this section, keep a register (which is in this section referred to as the “register of interests”) and shall enter therein the particulars contained in declarations given to the Minister or the Agency under this section.

(7) The register of interests shall be available for inspection by any person at the Agency's headquarters during office hours and a copy of the register or any entry in the register may be obtained by any person on the payment to the Agency of such fee (if any) as the Agency shall fix not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy.

(8) Where a person to whom subsection (1) applies, fails to make a declaration in accordance with that subsection or to update such declaration in accordance with subsection (3), the Minister shall decide the appropriate course of action (including removal from office) to be taken.

(9) Where a person to whom subsection (2) applies, fails to make a declaration in accordance with that subsection or to update such declaration in accordance with subsection (3), the Agency shall decide the appropriate course of action (including removal from office or termination of contract) to be taken.