National Standards Authority of Ireland Act, 1996

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SECOND SCHEDULE

Members and Staff

Section 6 .

Chief Executive Officer.

1. (1) The Authority shall have a Chief Executive Officer.

(2) The Chief Executive Officer shall—

(a) be appointed by the Board of the Authority with the approval of the Minister, and

(b) hold office on such terms and conditions (including remuneration) as the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, may approve.

(3) The Chief Executive Officer of the Authority shall, for the duration of that person's appointment, become an ex-officio member of the Board.

Staff.

2. (1) Having regard to section 38 , the Authority may, from time to time, appoint such and so many persons to be members of its staff as it thinks proper.

(2) Subject to section 38 , the remuneration and allowances of the members of the staff shall be determined from time to time by the Authority with the consent of the Minister and with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance.

(3) Notwithstanding section 38 , where a member of staff of the Authority is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, or

(b) elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or of the European Parliament, or

(c) regarded pursuant to section 15 (inserted by the European Assembly Elections Act, 1984 ) of the European Assembly Elections Act, 1977 as having been elected to such Parliament to fill a vacancy,

that person shall thereupon stand seconded from the employment of the Authority and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from the Authority, any remuneration or allowances in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election or when that person is so regarded as having been elected, as the case may be, and ending when that person ceases to be a member of either House or such Assembly.

Superannuation of staff of Authority.

3. (1) The Authority may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, make a scheme or schemes for the granting of superannuation benefits to or in respect of persons appointed under paragraph 2 to, or accepted under section 38 into, the employment of the Authority (including the Chief Executive Officer appointed under paragraph 1 (1)).

(2) A scheme under subparagraph (1) shall fix the time and conditions of retirement for all persons to or in respect of whom superannuation benefits are payable under the scheme, and different times and conditions may be fixed in respect of different classes of persons.

(3) The Authority may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, make a scheme amending or revoking a scheme under this paragraph including a scheme under this subparagraph.

(4) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any superannuation benefit payable in pursuance of a scheme or schemes under this paragraph, such dispute shall be submitted to the Minister, who shall refer it to the Minister for Finance, whose decision shall be final.

(5) No superannuation benefit shall be granted by the Authority on the resignation, retirement or death of an employee of the Authority and no other arrangements shall be entered into by the Authority for the provision of such a benefit otherwise than in accordance with a scheme under this paragraph.

(6) A scheme under this paragraph shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the scheme is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(7) A scheme or schemes under this paragraph shall, as respects a person accepted into wholetime employment of the Authority under section 38 , provide for the granting to or in respect of that person of superannuation benefits upon and subject to terms and conditions that are not less favourable to that person than the terms and conditions applied to that person immediately before the day on which that person was so accepted into the employment of the Authority in relation to the grant of such benefits.

(8) Where, during the period between the establishment day and the coming into operation of a scheme under this paragraph, superannuation benefits would have been granted to or in respect of a person accepted into wholetime employment of the Authority under section 38 , in respect of that person's employment with the public authority concerned, the superannuation benefits shall be granted and paid to or in respect of the person by the Authority and, for that purpose, that person's pensionable service with the Authority shall be aggregated with that person's previous pensionable service.

(9) The Minister for Finance shall make such contribution as may be specified in a scheme towards the superannuation benefits related to reckonable service given before the establishment day which may be granted to or in respect of persons who, immediately before that day, were members of the staff of Forfás and the scheme shall fix the manner and times of the payment of such contribution.

(10) Moneys required to be paid by the Minister for Finance under this paragraph shall be advanced out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(11) In this paragraph “superannuation benefits” means pensions, gratuities and other allowances payable on resignation, retirement or death.

(12) A scheme submitted by the Authority under this paragraph shall, if approved by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be carried out by the Authority in accordance with its terms.

Disclosure of documents.

4. (1) The Authority shall not, without the consent of the Minister, disclose any document in its custody or under its control, production of which is sought in relation to any legal proceedings.

(2) Where the Minister refuses to consent to the disclosure, the Authority shall be entitled to, and shall claim in the proceedings, the like privilege in respect of the document as the Minister would be entitled to claim if it were in the Minister's own custody.

Disclosure of information.

5. (1) Subject to subparagraph (3), a person shall not disclose any information obtained by that person—

(a) while performing duties as a member of the Board or of any committee appointed under this Act or as a member of staff of, or adviser or consultant to, the Authority, or

(b) as a member of or as a member of staff of any body consulted in pursuance of the provisions of this Act, while performing duties relating to any such consultation.

(2) A person who contravenes subparagraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Nothing in subparagraph (1) shall prevent—

(a) disclosure of information in a report made by the Authority (or on its behalf) to the Minister, or

(b) disclosure of information by the Authority or by a member of the Authority or by a member of any committee appointed under this Act for the purpose of a scheme of research and development or a scheme of acquisition of product and process technology.

Declaration of interests.

6. (1) Where a member of the Board or of the staff of the Authority has any financial or other interest, directly or indirectly, in any industrial, commercial or service undertaking, that person shall, before exercising any functions under this Act, declare the nature of such interest to the Authority and shall comply with such directions as may be given by the Board of the Authority in regard to it.

(2) Any such declaration of interests shall be provided in a form to be prescribed by the Authority for the purpose which shall be signed by the person concerned.

(3) Any material change in an interest referred to in subparagraph (1) shall require a new declaration to the Authority in the prescribed form.

(4) Any person who fails to comply with paragraph 6 or who, when purporting to comply with the requirements of the said paragraph, gives particulars which are false or which to that person's knowledge are misleading in a material respect, shall be guilty of an offence.