Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991

• Permanent Page URL

Number 12 of 1991

EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE (IRELAND AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) ACT, 1991

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Number 12 of 1991

EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE (IRELAND AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) ACT, 1991

AN ACT TO GIVE EFFECT TO AN AGREEMENT FOR A PROGRAMME OF EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH. [28th May, 1991]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

“the Act of 1957” means the Scholarship Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1957 ;

“the Agreement” means “An Agreement for a Programme of Educational Exchange between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United States of America”, signed at Dublin on the 27th day of October, 1988, and any subsequent modification or amendment of the provisions of the Agreement;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Foreign Affairs;

“the Commission” means the body established by section 2 of this Act;

“Officer” in relation to the Commission means a member of the Commission being, as the context admits, the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, the Treasurer or the Assistant Treasurer;

“the representative of the United States” means the Ambassador or officer for the time being in charge of the Diplomatic Mission of the United States of America to Ireland.

The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange.

2.—(1) There shall be a body to be known as The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange to facilitate the administration of educational and cultural exchanges between Ireland and the United States of America.

(2) The Commission shall stand established on such day as the Minister, with the agreement of the representative of the United States, shall by order appoint.

(3) The Commission shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land.

(4) The Commission shall replace An Bord Scoláireachtaí Cómhalairte established by the Act of 1957, on the dissolution of that body under section 18 of that Act.

(5) The Commission shall enjoy autonomy of management and administration subject to the provisions of this Act.

(6) The Commission is established for charitable purposes only within the meaning of section 333 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(7) The funds made available to the Commission under the Agreement or otherwise by virtue of this Act shall, subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in this Act, be used by the Commission for the purpose of—

(a) financing studies, research, instruction and other educational activities of or for the benefit of citizens of Ireland in the United States of America, and of or for the benefit of citizens and nationals of the United States of America in Ireland;

(b) financing visits and exchanges between the United States of America, on the one hand, and Ireland, on the other hand, of students, research scholars and teachers; and

(c) financing such other related educational and cultural programmes and such other related educational and cultural activities as may be provided for in budgets approved in accordance with section 8 of this Act.

Members of the Commission.

3.—(1) The Commission shall consist of eight members including a Chairman, a Deputy Chairman, a Treasurer and an Assistant Treasurer.

(2) Four of the members shall be citizens of Ireland and shall be appointed by the Minister.

(3) Four of the members shall be citizens of the United States of America (of whom two at least are officers of the foreign service establishment of the United States in Ireland) and shall be appointed by the representative of the United States.

(4) The term of office of a member shall be two years from the date of his appointment.

(5) A member shall, on the expiry of his first term of office, be eligible for re-appointment for not more than three further consecutive terms.

(6) The appointment of a member of the Commission may be terminated by the authority by whom he was appointed.

(7) A member may resign his office by letter sent by registered post to the Commission and the resignation shall take effect at the commencement of the meeting of the Commission held next after receipt of the letter if the resignation is not withdrawn in writing before that meeting.

(8) A vacancy arising by the death, resignation or termination of office of a member shall be filled by the appointment of an eligible person in accordance with subsection (2) or (3), as the case may require, to hold office for the unexpired period of the term of office of his predecessor.

Chairman and other Officers of the Commission.

4.—(1) The first Chairman shall be the person who, on the establishment of the Commission, holds the office of Chairman of An Bord Scoláireachtaí Cómhalairte.

(2) At its first meeting, the Commission shall elect from amongst its members a Deputy Chairman, a Treasurer and an Assistant Treasurer.

(3) The term of office of the Officers shall be two years from the time of their appointment or election, provided they remain members of the Commission for so long.

(4) At the first meeting of the Commission following upon the expiry of the term of office provided for by subsection (3) the Commission shall elect from amongst its members the Chairman and other officers of the Commission.

(5) The outgoing Chairman of the Commission shall act as Chairman of the Commission until his successor as Chairman is elected.

(6) All other outgoing Officers shall continue to act until their successors are elected under subsection (4).

(7) An Officer of the Commission shall not hold the same office for more than four consecutive terms.

(8) A vacancy amongst the Officers arising from the death, resignation or termination of office of an Officer or the termination of an Officer's membership of the Commission shall be filled at the next meeting of the Commission by the election of a member to hold the office until the next biennial election of Officers.

(9) The election of the Treasurer shall be subject to the approval of the Minister and the representative of the United States.

Ireland-United States Educational Fund.

5.—(1) The Minister for Finance shall cause to be established under his control a fund to be known as the Ireland-United States Educational Fund.

(2) The moneys paid to the Government on the winding up of the Scholarship Exchange Fund under section 18 of the Act of 1957 shall be paid by the Government into the Ireland-United States Educational Fund.

(3) Money standing to the credit of the Ireland-United States Educational Fund shall be invested by the Minister for Finance, with the consent of the Minister, in such securities as may be approved of by the Minister for Finance.

(4) The income of the Ireland-United States Educational Fund shall be made available to the Commission for the purposes of its functions.

(5) The Commission may accept such moneys as may be provided for the purposes of its functions by the Government of the United States of America.

(6) The Government may, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, make contributions to the Commission for the purposes of its functions.

(7) The Minister for Finance shall cause to be kept all proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expenditure incurred by the Fund.

(8) Accounts kept in pursuance of this section shall be submitted annually by the Minister for Finance to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit.

(9) The Minister, on behalf of the Minister for Finance, shall cause copies of the accounts together with copies of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(10) After they have been laid before each House of the Oireachtas, a copy of the accounts together with the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon shall be presented by the Minister on behalf of the Minister for Finance to the Commission.

Winding up of Scholarship Exchange Fund and dissolution of Board.

6.—(1) The Scholarship Exchange Fund shall be wound up under section 18 of the Act of 1957 on such day as the Minister and the representative of the United States agree upon notwithstanding that liabilities of that fund may remain to be discharged and that section shall stand modified accordingly.

(2) All liabilities, whether arising prior to or subsequent to the winding up of the Scholarship Exchange Fund and the dissolution of An Bord Scoláireachtaí Cómhalairte, which that body would be legally bound to discharge if it were in existence shall be discharged by the Commission and shall, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, be paid out of the funds of the Ireland-United States Educational Fund.

Powers of the Commission.

7.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commission may exercise all powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, including the following:

(a) the planning, adoption and execution of programmes in accordance with the purposes of this Act;

(b) the recommendation to the Board of Foreign Scholarships of the United States of America (“the Board of Foreign Scholarships”) of the candidacy of students, research scholars, and teachers to participate in the programmes envisaged by this Act, bearing in mind the fact that that Board will identify appropriate agencies to arrange placement;

(c) the approval, in co-operation with the Board of Foreign Scholarships of the candidacy, and, as appropriate, the arranging for the placement in Irish institutions of learning, of students, research scholars and teachers, citizens and nationals of the United States of America, as presented by that Board to participate in the programmes envisaged by this Act;

(d) the recommendation to the Board of Foreign Scholarships of such qualifications for the selection of potential participants in the programmes as the Commission may deem necessary for achieving the purposes and objectives of the Commission;

(e) the authorising of the Treasurer of the Commission, or such other person as the Commission may designate for this purpose, to keep the funds of the Commission in cash or on current account or on deposit with the Central Bank of Ireland or with a bank to which section 1 (j) of the Trustee Act, 1893 (inserted by section 1 of the Trustee (Authorised Investments) Act, 1958 ) applies as the Commission may decide from time to time, and to invest such funds as are not immediately required for the purposes of this Act in any securities in which trustees are for the time being empowered by law to invest trust funds; subject to the condition that any bank account in Ireland shall be in the name of the Commission and that the appointment of such other person shall be approved by the Minister and the representative of the United States;

(f) the authorising of the Treasurer, or other person designated by the Commission for this purpose, to operate a bank account or accounts in the United States of America, in the name of the Commission and as required for the purposes of the Commission, subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance and to Irish Exchange Control requirements;

(g) the authorising of the Treasurer, or other person designated by the Commission for this purpose, to disburse funds and make grants and advances of funds for the authorised purposes of the Commission including the payment of transportation, tuition, maintenance and related expenses;

(h) the acquisition and disposal of property in the name of the Commission, subject, however, to the condition that the acquisition or disposal of any real property or leasehold property by the Commission shall be subject to the prior approval of the Minister and the representative of the United States;

(i) the administration or the assistance in the administration or otherwise the facilitation of educational and cultural activities that further the purposes of this Act but which are not financed by the Commission with funds made available by the two Governments under the Agreement, provided, however, that any programmes and activities so proposed and the proposed role of the Commission therein shall be fully described in reports which shall be submitted to the Government and to the Government of the United States of America and provided that no objection is interposed by either Government to the Commission's actual or proposed role therein.

(2) Members of the Commission may not themselves benefit by way of scholarships or travel bursaries provided by the Ireland-United States Educational Fund.

Obligations, commitments and expenditure.

8.—All obligations, commitments and expenditure authorised by this Act shall be discharged in accordance with budgets approved by the Minister, following consultation with the Minister for Finance, and by the Government of the United States of America.

Seal of the Commission.

9.—(1) The Commission shall provide itself with a seal.

(2) The seal of the Commission shall be authenticated by the signatures of two members of the Commission.

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Commission and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Commission and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with this section) of the Commission shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

Meetings and procedure of the Commission.

10.—(1) Every member of the Commission shall have the right to vote at a meeting of the Commission.

(2) The decisions of the Commission shall be taken by majority vote and in the event of a tied vote the Chairman shall cast the deciding vote.

(3) During the absence of the Chairman from any meeting of the Commission or if, when any meeting of the Commission is held, there is no Chairman, the Deputy Chairman shall exercise all the functions of the Chairman provided for in this Act.

(4) During the absence of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman from any meeting of the Commission or if, when any meeting of the Commission is held, there is no Chairman or Deputy Chairman, the members of the Commission present shall elect one of themselves to be chairman of the meeting for the time being and where at such election there is an equality of votes for two or more persons it shall be determined by lot which of them shall be chairman of the meeting.

(5) A chairman of the meeting shall exercise all the functions of the Chairman provided for in this Act.

(6) (a) The Commission shall draw up and may amend rules of procedure consistent with the provisions of this Act and may appoint such committees as it shall deem necessary to carry out responsibilities entrusted to it by this Act.

(b) Any such rules and amendments thereto shall require the approval of the Minister and the representative of the United States.

(7) The Commission may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

Offices of the Commission.

11.—(1) The principal office of the Commission shall be situated in Dublin but meetings of the Commission and any of its committees may be held in such places as the Commission may from time to time determine.

(2) The activities of any of the Commission's Officers or staff may be carried on at such places as may be approved by the Commission.

Contributions to the Commission.

12.—The Commission may accept and use, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, such other funds, goods or services as may be made available to the Commission by contribution from any source public or private.

Commission Staff and expenses.

13.—The Commission may—

(a) engage, with the approval of the Minister and the representative of the United States, an Executive Director and other administrative and clerical staff;

(b) determine the terms and conditions of employment and the remuneration of the Executive Director and other staff;

(c) arrange for the payment of the salaries (which shall be subject to periodic review) of the aforementioned persons;

(d) discharge other necessary administrative expenses.

Expenses of members of the Commission.

14.—The members of the Commission shall serve without remuneration but shall be reimbursed by the Commission for reasonable expenses necessarily incurred by them in the discharge of their functions.

Annual report and audited accounts of the Commission.

15.—(1) The Commission shall in each year submit to the Minister and to the representative of the United States a report of its activities during the preceding year and shall submit to each of them such further reports as they or either of them may request.

(2) The Commission may at its discretion submit other reports to the Minister and the representative of the United States from time to time.

(3) The Commission shall keep in such form as may be approved by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and the representative of the United States, all proper and usual accounts of any moneys received or expended by it.

(4) Accounts kept in pursuance of this section shall be submitted annually by the Commission to an auditor appointed by it with the consent of the Minister, the Minister for Finance and the representative of the United States.

(5) The Commission shall immediately after the audit cause copies of the accounts together with the auditor's report thereon to be presented to the Minister and to the representative of the United States.

(6) Following their présentation to the Minister, he shall cause copies of the accounts together with the auditor's report thereon to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

Exemption from import charges.

16.—The Commission may import free of import charges necessary equipment for official use.

Termination of the Agreement.

17.—(1) In the event of the termination of the Agreement, all funds and property of the Commission shall become the property of the Government and of the Government of the United States of America, subject to such conditions, limitations and liabilities as may have been imposed thereon prior to termination and shall be divided between the two Governments in proportion to their respective contributions to the Commission during the period of validity of the Agreement and, as respects property accruing to the Government, shall be donated or transferred to some other institution or institutions having similar objects.

(2) In determining the respective contributions, any moneys to which the Commission succeeds pursuant to section 5 (4) of this Act shall be regarded as contributed by the Government of Ireland and any moneys standing to the credit of the Ireland-United States Educational Fund and invested by the Minister for Finance pursuant to the provisions of section 5 (3) of this Act shall become the property of the Government of Ireland.

(3) The Commission shall become dissolved and shall cease to exist on such day following the termination of the Agreement as the Minister and the representative of the United States agree upon.

Expenses.

18.—Any expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Short title.

19.—This Act may be cited as the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991.