Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003

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SCHEDULE 1

Appeals Officer

Section 6 .

Terms and conditions of appointment

1. The term of office of an Appeals Officer shall be 3 years and, subject to paragraph 3, a person may be reappointed to that office for a second or subsequent term.

2. An Appeals Officer shall be paid such remuneration and such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may from time to time determine.

3. An Appeals Officer—

(a) may at any time resign his or her office by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect on and from the date of receipt of the letter,

(b) may at any time be removed from office by the Minister for stated reasons.

4. (a) 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) a member of a local authority,

shall be disqualified from being appointed as an Appeals Officer.

(b) Where an Appeals Officer—

(i) accepts nomination as a member of Seanad Éireann,

(ii) is nominated as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas or to the European Parliament,

(iii) is regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 , as having been elected to that Parliament to fill a vacancy, or

(iv) becomes a member of a local authority,

he or she shall thereupon cease to be an Appeals Officer.

Avoidance of conflict of interests

5. An Appeals Officer shall advise the licensing authority and the appellant forthwith of any particular appeal which might give rise to a conflict of interests for the Appeals Officer and shall not consider that appeal any further.

Accounts and Audit

6. (a) An Appeals Officer shall keep, in such form as may be approved by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by him or her in each financial year.

(b) Accounts kept in pursuance of paragraph (a) shall be submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit within 6 months after the year to which they relate and those accounts, when so audited, shall (together with the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts) be presented to the Minister, who shall cause copies of the audited accounts and the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

Annual and other reports, etc., to Minister

7. (a) As soon as practicable, but not later than 6 months, after the end of each financial year, an Appeals Officer shall, in writing, report to the Minister on the performance of the functions of the Appeals Officer in that year and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(b) The report shall identify the appellants involved and the number, subject matter and results of each appeal determined by an Appeals Officer during the year to which it relates.

(c) An Appeals Officer shall give to the Minister such information relating to the performance of his or her functions as the Minister may from time to time request. In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, an Appeals Officer shall, at such intervals as he or she thinks fit, or as the Minister may direct, conduct reviews of his or her organisation and of the systems and procedures used by him or her in relation to appeals and shall report thereon to the Minister with any recommendations designed to improve the due processing of appeals.

(d) An Appeals Officer may, on his or her own initiative, or at the request of the Minister, make submissions or recommendations to the Minister on any matter relating to the functions of the Appeals Officer or to licensing under section 222B of the Principal Act.

Secretarial assistance

8. (a) The Minister may appoint such and so many persons as he or she considers necessary to assist an Appeals Officer in the performance of his or her functions and such persons shall receive such remuneration and be subject to such other terms and conditions of service as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine.

(b) Any person appointed under paragraph (a) shall be a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 .

Indemnity

9. An Appeals Officer shall be entitled to an indemnity in respect of proceedings taken against him or her in respect of acts done in good faith in his or her official capacity.