Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024
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PART 3 Amendment of other Enactments | ||
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Amendment of Act of 1976 | ||
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19. The Act of 1976 is amended— | ||
(a) in section 2— | ||
(i) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “majority shareholding Minister”: | ||
“ ‘majority-shareholding Minister’ has the same meaning as it has in the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024;”, | ||
and | ||
(ii) by the insertion of the following definition: | ||
“ ‘Act of 2014’ means the Companies Act 2014 ;”, | ||
(b) in section 8— | ||
(i) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “the Natural Gas Market Directive” for “Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 20092 ”, and | ||
(ii) in subsection (3)— | ||
(I) in paragraph (b), by the insertion of “store, transport,” after “prepare,”, | ||
(II) in paragraph (e)— | ||
(A) by the deletion of “or provide, operate and maintain,”, and | ||
(B) by the insertion of “compressor stations,” after “pressure-reducing stations,”, | ||
(III) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (f): | ||
“(fa) take such measures as are appropriate to enhance or protect security of supply of natural gas, or”, | ||
and | ||
(IV) by the deletion of paragraphs (g), (h) and (i), | ||
(c) by the insertion of the following section after section 8A: | ||
“Conferring of functions in relation to telecommunications infrastructure on Board | ||
8B. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the majority-shareholding Minister may, by order, confer on the Board such function of developing, maintaining and operating telecommunications infrastructure as the majority shareholding Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order, and any such order may provide for the performance of the function subject to conditions specified in the order and may contain such incidental and supplementary provisions as the majority shareholding Minister thinks necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the order. | ||
(2) An order made under subsection (1) shall be made subject to— | ||
(a) the consent of the Minister for Finance, where the majority shareholding Minister is not the Minister for Finance, | ||
(b) the consultation of the Minister, | ||
(c) the consultation of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, and | ||
(d) the consultation of any other Minister of the Government (other than the Minister for Finance where the consent of that Minister is required in accordance with paragraph (a)), who in the opinion of the majority-shareholding Minister having regard to the functions of that other Minister ought to be consulted. | ||
(3) When an order under this section is proposed to be made by the majority-shareholding Minister, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each such House. | ||
(4) In this section, ‘telecommunications infrastructure’ means infrastructure and equipment which permit the conveyance of signals for telecommunications and electronic communications.”, | ||
(d) by the substitution of the following section for section 14: | ||
“Annual report | ||
14. (1) The Board shall prepare a report (in this section referred to as the ‘annual report’) on the performance by it of its functions under this Act, the Gas Regulation Act 2013 and the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024. | ||
(2) The annual report shall include such particulars as the Board considers appropriate or as may be directed by the majority-shareholding Minister. | ||
(3) The first annual report prepared under this section shall be in respect of the financial year commencing on 1 January 2024 and subsequent annual reports shall be prepared in respect of each subsequent financial year.”, | ||
(e) by the substitution of the following section for section 15: | ||
“Appointment of statutory auditor or firm | ||
15. (1) The board of directors of the Board shall, with the approval of the majority-shareholding Minister, appoint a statutory auditor or statutory audit firm to be a statutory auditor of the Board, for the purposes of, and in accordance with, the Act of 2014. | ||
(2) Where a statutory auditor or statutory audit firm is appointed under subsection (1), the first statutory auditor’s report prepared in accordance with section 336 of the Act of 2014 shall be in respect of the financial year commencing on 1 January 2024, and subsequent reports shall be prepared in respect of each subsequent financial year. | ||
(3) The Board shall pay out of moneys at its disposal the fees of a statutory auditor appointed under this section. | ||
(4) In this section— | ||
‘statutory audit firm’ has the same meaning as it has in Part 27 of the Act of 2014; | ||
‘statutory auditor’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2014.”, | ||
and | ||
(f) by the insertion of the following section after section 15 (as amended by paragraph (e)): | ||
“Presentation of financial statements and reports | ||
15A. (1) The Board shall, not later than 30 June in each year, commencing in the year 2025, present to the majority-shareholding Minister a copy of— | ||
(a) the statutory financial statements prepared in accordance with the Act of 2014, | ||
(b) the annual report prepared under section 14, and | ||
(c) the statutory auditor’s report referred to in section 15(2). | ||
(2) The majority-shareholding Minister shall cause a copy of the statutory financial statements and the reports presented to him or her under subsection (1) to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable following their presentation.”. | ||