Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013
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Power of committee to conduct inquiry into conduct of certain officeholders, etc. |
11.— (1) Subject to sections 12 (1) and 13 (1), a committee of Dáil Éireann may conduct an inquiry into any matter relevant to— | |
(a) holding the Government to account under subsection 1° of Article 28.4 of the Constitution, or | ||
(b) holding to account a person who is liable to being held to account by Dáil Éireann by virtue of— | ||
(i) the terms of a contract entered into by the person, or | ||
(ii) the terms of a statutory appointment held by the person. | ||
(2) The committee, in exercise of the power to conduct a section 11 inquiry, may— | ||
(a) record evidence, | ||
(b) report the evidence, | ||
(c) subject to subsection (5), make findings of fact (if any), including— | ||
(i) findings of fact that directly impugn the good name of— | ||
(I) an officeholder (or former officeholder) of the Government in his or her capacity (or former capacity) as such officeholder, | ||
(II) the chief executive officer (or equivalent, by whatever name called) of a public body that is subject to scrutiny by the Committee of Public Accounts, | ||
(III) the Secretary General (or equivalent, by whatever name called) of a Department of State or an office or branch of the public service specified in column 1 of Part I, or in Part II, of the Schedule to the Public Service Management Act 1997 , or | ||
(IV) a person referred to in subsection (1)(b), | ||
and | ||
(ii) of relevant misbehaviour, | ||
and | ||
(d) subject to subsection (5), make recommendations (if any) arising from one or both of the following: | ||
(i) those findings of fact; | ||
(ii) findings of fact made by another committee in conducting another Part 2 inquiry if the terms of reference for that other Part 2 inquiry expressly state that its findings of fact may be used in other Part 2 inquiries. | ||
(3) Subject to subsection (4), the committee, in exercise of the power to conduct a section 11 inquiry, may, in addition to inquiring into the conduct of a person who falls within any of clauses (I) to (IV) of subsection (2)(c)(i), also inquire into the conduct of— | ||
(a) a civil servant (or former civil servant) in his or her capacity (or former capacity) as such civil servant, | ||
(b) an official (or former official) of a public body referred to in subsection (2)(c)(i)(II) in his or her capacity (or former capacity) as such official, or | ||
(c) other persons who acted on behalf of, or under the direction or control of, any officeholder who is the subject of the inquiry or on behalf of, or under the direction or control of, a civil servant (or former civil servant) or official (or former official) referred to in paragraph (a) or (b). | ||
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of section 17 (1) and (2), subsection (3) shall not entitle the committee to make findings of fact that directly impugn the good name of a person whose conduct may be inquired into by virtue of that subsection unless that person falls within any of clauses (I) to (IV) of subsection (2)(c)(i). | ||
(5) The committee shall not have the power referred to in paragraph (c) or (d)(i) or (ii) of subsection (2) unless the terms of reference for the section 11 inquiry expressly state that the committee has that power. | ||
(6) Subject to section 66 , the committee shall not have the power to send for persons, papers or records unless— | ||
(a) that power has been conferred upon it pursuant to the applicable rules and standing orders, and | ||
(b) the resolution under section 13 (1) for the section 11 inquiry specifies that that power has been or will be conferred upon the committee. |