Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013
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Power of chairman of committee to give directions, etc. |
20.— (1) The chairman of the committee shall be entitled to give such directions as he or she considers appropriate to avoid a contravention of this Act from occurring in the conduct of the Part 2 inquiry. | |
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) or section 23 (1), directions under subsection (1) may include— | ||
(a) a direction to a witness to cease giving evidence or, after such cesser, to start giving evidence again, or | ||
(b) a direction to a committee member to cease particular questioning. | ||
(3) Without prejudice to any other action that may be taken in respect of a breach of privilege by a committee member during the course of the conduct of the Part 2 inquiry, the House may by resolution remove a committee member from the committee— | ||
(a) for contravening a direction given to him or her pursuant to subsection (2)(b), or | ||
(b) in the event of it being established, in accordance with the rules and standing orders of the House, that the member has, otherwise than by virtue of a contravention referred to in paragraph (a), contravened a requirement of this Act applicable to the inquiry. | ||
(4) The House may by resolution remove a committee member from, or add a member of the House to, the committee in accordance with the rules and standing orders of the House. | ||
(5) A member who has been added to the committee after the committee has started conducting the Part 2 inquiry shall have regard to— | ||
(a) each interim report (if any) of the committee made by the committee before he or she became a committee member, and | ||
(b) evidence received by the committee before he or she became a committee member. | ||
(6) The removal of a committee member shall not for that reason alone invalidate the proceedings of the Part 2 inquiry up to the point of such removal and the inquiry may continue to be conducted without the former committee member. | ||
(7) A failure by a person to comply with a direction given under this section shall not of itself prejudice the further conduct of the Part 2 inquiry. |