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Accountability of chief executive officers of HRI and Bord na gCon to certain Oireachtas Committees.
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15.—(1) In this section—
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“chief executive” other than in subsection (2), means the chief executive officer of HRI or Bord na gCon, as the case may be;
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“Committee” means a Committee appointed by either House of the Oireachtas or jointly by both Houses of the Oireachtas (other than the Committee of Public Accounts or the Committee on Members' Interests of Dáil Éireann or the Committee on Members' Interests of Seanad Éireann) or a subcommittee of such a Committee.
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(2) Subject to subsection (3), at the request in writing of a Committee—
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(a) the chief executive officer of HRI shall attend before it to give account for the general administration of HRI, and
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(b) the chief executive officer of Bord na gCon shall attend before it to give account for the general administration of Bord na gCon.
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(3) The chief executive shall not be required to give account before a Committee for any matter which is or has been the subject of proceedings before a court or tribunal in the State.
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(4) Where the chief executive is of the opinion that a matter in respect of which the chief executive is requested to give an account before a Committee is a matter to which subsection (3) applies, he or she shall inform the Committee of that opinion and the reasons for the opinion and, unless the chief executive is before it, the information shall be so conveyed in writing.
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(5) Where the chief executive has informed a Committee of his or her opinion in accordance with subsection (4) and the Committee does not withdraw the request referred to in subsection (2) in so far as it relates to a 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 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 (3) applies, or
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(b) the chairperson of the Committee may, on behalf of the Committee, make such an application,
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and the High Court may determine the matter.
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(6) Pending the determination of an application under subsection (5), the chief executive shall not attend before the Committee to give account for the matter the subject of the application.
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(7) If the High Court determines that the matter concerned is one to which subsection (3) applies, the Committee shall withdraw the request referred to in subsection (2), but if the High Court determines that subsection (3) does not apply, the chief executive shall attend before the Committee to give account for the matter.
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