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Appearances before committees of Houses of Oireachtas
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34. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the chief executive shall, at the request in writing of an Oireachtas Committee, attend before it to give an account of the general administration of the Authority.
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(2) The chief executive shall not be required to give an account before an Oireachtas Committee of any matter which is the subject of proceedings before a court or tribunal in the State.
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(3) Where the chief executive is of the opinion that a matter in respect of which he or she is requested to give an account before an Oireachtas Committee is a matter to which subsection (2) applies, he or she shall inform the Oireachtas Committee of that opinion and the reasons for the opinion and, unless the information is conveyed to that Oireachtas Committee at a time when the chief executive is before it, the information shall be so conveyed in writing.
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(4) Where the chief executive has informed an Oireachtas Committee of his or her opinion in accordance with subsection (3) and the Oireachtas Committee does not withdraw its request on the matter the subject of that opinion—
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(a) the chief executive may, not later than 21 days after being informed by the Oireachtas Committee of its decision not to do so, apply to the High Court in a summary manner for determination of the question whether the matter is one to which subsection (2) applies, or
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(b) the chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee may, on behalf of the Oireachtas Committee, make such an application not later than 21 days after informing the chief executive of its decision not to do so,
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and the High Court shall determine the matter.
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(5) Pending the determination of an application under subsection (4), the chief executive shall not attend before the Oireachtas Committee to give account for the matter the subject of the application.
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(6) If the High Court determines that the matter concerned is one to which subsection (2) applies, the Oireachtas Committee shall withdraw the request referred to in subsection (1), but if the High Court determines that subsection (2) does not apply, the chief executive shall attend before the Oireachtas Committee to give account for the matter.
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(7) In the performance of his or her duties under this section, the chief executive shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such a policy.
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(8) With the permission of the chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee making the request under subsection (1), a member of staff of the Authority nominated by the chief executive may attend before the Oireachtas Committee in place of the chief executive to give an account of the general administration of the Authority, and in that case a reference in subsections (2) to (7) to the chief executive shall be read as including a reference to the person attending in his or her place.
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