National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2000

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, commencement, construction and collective citation.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act, 2000.

(2) Part 2 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(3) This Act and the National Treasury Management Agency Act, 1990, shall be construed together as one and may be cited as the National Treasury Management Agency Acts, 1990 and 2000.

2. Interpretation generally.

2. —(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“Agency” means National Treasury Management Agency;

“Minister” means Minister for Finance;

“Principal Act” means National Treasury Management Agency Act, 1990.

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a Part, section or Schedule is a reference to a Part or section of, or the Schedule to, this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(c) a reference to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any other enactment (including this Act).

3. Orders and directions.

3. —(1) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order made by him or her under this Act (other than an order under section 1(2)) including an order under this subsection.

(2) The Minister may by direction amend or revoke a direction given by him or her under this Act including a direction under this subsection.

(3) An order under subsection (1) shall be made, or a direction under subsection (2) shall be given, in the like manner and subject to the like (if any) consultation and conditions as the order or direction that it is amending or revoking.

4. Laying of orders before Houses of Oireachtas.

4. —Every order (other than an order under section 1(2)) under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

5. Expenses.

5. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART 2 State Claims Agency

6. Interpretation.

6. —(1) In this Part—

“delegated claim” means a claim, or a claim of a class, the management of which stands delegated to the Agency under subsection (1) of section 9 and which is not the subject of a direction under subsection (4) of that section;

“manage” means—

(a) in relation to a claim, take the steps necessary or expedient for the purpose of disposing (whether by agreement or otherwise) of the claim and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, includes—

(i) perform the clerical and other administrative functions relating to the claim and the disposal of it,

(ii) investigate the claim and any act, omission or other matter (and the circumstances thereof and any other matter relevant thereto) that occasioned the claim,

(iii) retain the services of professional and other expert advisers in relation to the claim and the other matters referred to in subparagraph (ii) and in relation to the liability (including the amount of the potential financial liability) of the State authority concerned in respect of the claim and the amount (if any) that would be reasonable to pay in settlement of the claim,

(iv) represent the State authority concerned in a court or other tribunal in relation to the claim,

and

(b) in relation to a counterclaim, take the steps necessary or expedient for the purpose of making and disposing of (whether by agreement or otherwise) the counterclaim and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, includes—

(i) perform the clerical and other administrative functions relating to the making of the counterclaim,

(ii) investigate the counterclaim and any act, omission or other matter (and the circumstances thereof and any other matter relevant thereto) that occasioned the counterclaim,

(iii) retain the services of professional and other expert advisers in relation to the counterclaim and the other matters referred to in subparagraph (ii) and in relation to the liability (including the amount of the potential financial liability) of the claimant in respect of the counterclaim and the amount (if any) that would be reasonable to receive in settlement of the counterclaim,

(iv) represent the State authority concerned in a court or other tribunal in relation to the counterclaim,

and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“relevant Minister of the Government”, in relation to a claim or a delegated claim, as may be appropriate, means—

(a) in the case of a claim or delegated claim, as may be appropriate, made against a Minister of the Government, the Minister of the Government concerned,

(b) in the case of a claim or a delegated claim, as may be appropriate, made against the State or the Attorney General, the Taoiseach, and

(c) in the case of a claim or a delegated claim, as may be appropriate, made against any other State authority, the Minister of the Government at whose request an order may be made under section 9(1) in relation to—

(i) the claim concerned, or

(ii) a class of claim to which the claim concerned belongs.

(2) Any function (which includes any power or duty) conferred, or any liability imposed, on a State authority by this Part shall, in the case of the State, be performed or undertaken on its behalf by the Taoiseach.

7. Claims and counterclaims to which Part 2 applies.

7. —(1) In this Part—

“claim” (other than in section 12(4)) means a claim, other than one involving a question as to the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of the Constitution, that is wholly, or in the opinion of the Minister is mainly, one for compensation or damages for loss of life or personal injury, or loss of or damage to property, occasioned by an act, omission or other matter constituting a cause of action made against any one or more State authorities either alone or with any other person, but does not include—

(a) F1[…]

(b) a claim against the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána and the Governor of a prison or any of them in respect of an alleged assault upon the claimant by a member of the Garda Síochána or a prison officer of a prison, or

(c) a claim under the scheme administered by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform providing for compensation for personal injury criminally inflicted on prison officers of a prison,

and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“counterclaim” means a counterclaim made by a State authority for compensation or damages in relation to a matter the subject of a delegated claim;

“State authority” means—

(a) the State (whether or not described in the claim as Ireland),

(b) a Minister of the Government,

(c) a body specified in the Schedule or, if appropriate, the head of such a body,

(d) the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána,

(e) the Governor of a prison,

(f) the board of management of a community school, or a comprehensive school, which is a recognised school within the meaning of section 2 of the Education Act, 1998,

(g) the board of management of, or person for the time being managing, a school certified under section 45 of the Children Act, 1908, or a place of detention registered under section 108 of that Act, in which young offenders are detained,

(h) the Attorney General,

(i) a person in respect of whom a Minister of the Government pays, or agrees to pay, the amount (if any) payable in respect of a claim against the person, or

(j) any other body that the Minister may, at the request of that body, if appropriate, and with the consent of the relevant Minister of the Government, prescribe by order, being a body established by or under any enactment (other than the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1999), and financed wholly or partly, whether directly or indirectly, by means of moneys provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government, or the head of any such body,

and State authorities shall be construed accordingly.

(2) In this section—

“head”, in relation to a body referred to in paragraph (c) or (j) of the definition of “State authority” in subsection (1), means the person who holds, or performs the functions of, the office of chief executive officer (by whatever name called) of the body;

“personal injury” includes any disease and any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition except in paragraph (c) of the definition of “claim” in subsection (1);

“prison” means a place of custody administered by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and includes Saint Patrick's Institution, any place provided under section 2 of the Prisons Act, 1970, or any place specified to be used as a prison under section 3 of the Prisons Act, 1972, and “Governor” and “prison officer”, in relation to a prison, shall be construed accordingly.

8. Additional functions of Agency.

8. —(1) The Agency shall perform the function delegated to it under section 9(1).

(2) The Agency shall manage counterclaims.

(3) The Agency shall manage delegated claims and counterclaims in such manner as to ensure that the liability of the State authorities in relation to such claims, and the expenses of the Agency in relation to such management, are contained at the lowest achievable level.

(4) (a) The Agency shall advise and assist a State authority whenever it considers it appropriate to do so or is requested by such an authority to do so in relation to the measures to be taken to prevent the occurrence, or to reduce the incidence, of acts, omissions or other matters occasioning, or that may occasion, delegated claims against such an authority, including measures to identify sources of risk that may occasion such claims.

(b) The advice under paragraph (a) may include advice for the purpose of preventing or reducing any such risk as is referred to in that paragraph and the assistance under that paragraph may include any one or more of the following:

(i) the provision to such an authority and its officers and other employees, or other persons nominated by it, of information, instruction and training for the purposes of enabling them to ascertain whether any such risk exists and if it does, of increasing the awareness of its existence and encouraging the adoption by that authority of appropriate measures to counter any such risk,

(ii) the assessment of any such risk, including the determination of whether it could give rise to a serious hazard,

(iii) the evaluation of the adequacy of the measures adopted by such an authority to counter any such risk,

(iv) the provision to such an authority of safety audits, inspections and reviews.

(5) (a) The Agency may, on behalf of a State authority, whenever it considers it appropriate to do so or is requested by such an authority to do so, place insurance with an insurer within the meaning of section 2 of the Insurance Act, 1989, in respect of a risk that may occasion a delegated claim against such an authority.

(b) Before insurance is placed on behalf of a State authority under paragraph (a), the authority shall, on the written request of the Agency, pay to it the amount specified in the request within the period specified therein in respect of the premium for such insurance.

(6) The Agency shall be known as the State Claims Agency when performing the functions conferred on, or delegated to, it by or under this Part.

8A. F2[Additional function - specification of minimum levels of indemnity for classes of medical practitioners

8A.—(1) The Agency shall, by notice in Iris Oifigiúil, specify, having regard to the criteria set out insubsection (3), and after consultation with the Medical Council and any other person that the Agency considers appropriate, the minimum levels of indemnity applicable to classes of medical practitioners.

(2) The Agency shall, as regards the minimum levels of indemnity specified in a notice referred to insubsection (1), specify, in that notice, a date or the occurrence of an event from which such levels of indemnity are to take effect and different dates or events may be specified for different classes of medical practitioners.

(3) The criteria referred to insubsection (1)in respect of a class of medical practitioners are—

(a) the level of risk generally inherent in the medical specialty practised by the members of that class,

(b) the level of risk, from any act or omission of a member of that class, to the health, safety or welfare of any person to whom a duty of care is owed by the members of that class in their capacity as medical practitioners who fall within that class,

(c) the risks identified by providers of indemnity as particularly associated with the medical specialty practised by members of that class, and

(d) the level of awards or settlements made in proceedings where the cause of action arose out of an alleged breach of duty involving a member of that class in his or her capacity as a medical practitioner who falls within that class.

(4) In this section—

(a) “indemnity”, “medical practitioner” and “minimum level of indemnity” have the same meanings as they have in the Medical Practitioners Act 2007,

(b) “medical specialty” means a medical specialty recognised by the Medical Council under section 89 (1) of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and includes any subset of a medical specialty.]

8B. F3[Additional function in relation to Insurance Compensation Fund under sections 3A, 3B and 3C of Insurance Act 1964

8B.—F4[(1) In this section—

"Act of 1964" means theInsurance Act 1964;

"Act of 2024" means theMotor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Act 2024;

"Compensation Body" has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2024;

"personal data" has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2024;

"processing" has the meaning assigned to it by Part 4 of the Act of 2024.]

(2) The Agency shall perform the following functions conferred on it in respect of the Insurance Compensation Fund:

(a) the application by it under section 3B(1)(a) of the Act of 1964 to the High Court for approvals under section 3 of that Act;

(b) the assessment and verification by it of information provided to it under section 3A(1A)(a) or 3B(1A)(a), as the case may be, of the Act of 1964;

(c) the preparation by it of a report under section 3A(1A)(c) or 3B(1A)(c), as the case may be, of the Act of 1964;

(d) the payment by it to a person under section 3B(2)(a) of the Act of 1964 of the sum due to such person;

(e) the preparation by it of a report under section 3C(1A) of the Act of 1964;

(f) the clerical and other administrative functions relating to the performance by the Agency of its functions under sections 3A, 3B and 3C of the Act ofF4[1964;]

F5[(g) acting as one of the interested parties within the meaning of section 12 of the Act of 2024;

(h) the co-operation by it, pursuant to section 13 of the Act of 2024, with the Compensation Body, the Central Bank of Ireland and the Revenue Commissioners;

(i) the carrying out, pursuant to section 16 of the Act of 2024, of audits of samples of completed claims presented to the Compensation Body under that Act;

(j) the carrying out, pursuant to section 17 of the Act of 2024, of audits of certain uncompleted claims presented to the Compensation Body;

(k) the preparation and submission to the Minister, pursuant to section 18 of the Act of 2024, of a report on, inter alia, the conclusions to be drawn from the audits referred to inparagraphs (i)and(j)which it has carried out;

(l) processing personal data which, pursuant to section 20 of the Act of 2024, has been disclosed to it by the Compensation Body.]

(3) The Agency shall be known as the State Claims Agency when performing the functions conferred on it by the Act of 1964.]

9. Delegation to Agency of claims management function.

9. —(1) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), the Government may, at the request of a Minister of the Government in whom functions in relation to a State authority are vested, by order delegate to the Agency the management of any claims, or classes of claims, against such an authority.

(b) An order under paragraph (a) may exempt any class of claims against all or any of the State authorities from the delegation effected by the order.

(c) A delegation under paragraph (a) may relate to claims made before the commencement of this Part or the commencement of the order concerned as well as to claims made after the commencement of the order concerned irrespective of whether the latter claims relate to acts, omissions or other matters occurring before or after the commencement of the order concerned or before the commencement of this Part.

(2) (a) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), whenever an order under subsection (1) is in force, the Agency shall, if and in so far as the order so declares, have the following functions:

(i) advising the Minister, whenever he or she so requests, in relation to the management of delegated claims and counterclaims and matters connected therewith,

(ii) advising a relevant Minister of the Government, whenever he or she so requests, of the status and progress of the management of any delegated claim, or class of delegated claims, against, or the management of any counterclaim made by, such Minister of the Government or any other State authority other than the State and the Attorney General,