INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT (FOR FÁS DISSOLUTION) ACT 2014

• (a) substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

• “(a) determine the amount of such fees as it considers appropriate in consideration of—

  • (i) the performance by the Authority of its functions,

  • (ii) the provision by the Authority of services (other than a service consisting of the provision of advice to the Minister or another Minister of the Government),

  • (iii) the carrying on by the Authority of activities,

  • (iv) the performance by the Accreditation Board of its functions, and

  • (v) the performance by the Appeals Board of its functions,”,

and

• (b) inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (d):

• “(e) enter into contracts upon such terms and conditions as it considers appropriate (including terms and conditions relating to payments to the Authority) for the purposes of any of the functions of the Authority referred to in section 34(1)(de) (inserted by section 30 of the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014),”.

34. Amendment of section 73 of Act of 2005

34. Section 73(1) of the Act of 2005 is amended—

• (a) in paragraph (c), by deleting “or”,

• (b) in paragraph (d), by substituting “person,” for “person.”, and

• (c) by inserting the following paragraphs after paragraph (d):

• “(e) a member of the Accreditation Board, or

• (f) a member of the Appeals Board.”.

35. Amendment of section 77 of Act of 2005

35. Section 77(2) of the Act of 2005 is amended by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

• “(c) except for the provisions of this section as they apply to this Act, contravenes any of the relevant statutory provisions, other than Chapter 3 (inserted by section 32 of the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014) of Part 5 and Schedule 6A (inserted by section 36 of the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014),”.

36. Insertion of Schedule 6A into Act of 2005

36. The Act of 2005 is amended by inserting the following Schedule after Schedule 6:

“SCHEDULE 6A

Section 56A

Irish National Accreditation Board

1. (1) The Accreditation Board shall consist of not more than 12 members, including the Manager of the Accreditation Board.

2. (2) The Authority shall, in so far as is practicable, endeavour to ensure that among the members of the Accreditation Board there is an equitable balance between men and women.

3. (3) The Accreditation Board may include persons who are not members of, or members of the staff of, the Authority.

4. (4) A chairperson of the Accreditation Board shall be appointed by the Authority from among the members of the Accreditation Board, other than the Manager of the Accreditation Board.

5. (5) A deputy chairperson of the Accreditation Board shall be appointed by the Authority from among the members of the Accreditation Board, other than the Manager of the Accreditation Board, to act as chairperson if the chairperson is not available or where the office of chairperson is vacant.

6. (6) At the end of each calendar year, the two longest serving members of the Accreditation Board, other than the Manager of the Accreditation Board, shall retire and where more than two members were appointed on the same date, the two members to retire shall be determined by lot.

7. (7) Subject to subparagraph (8), a member of the Accreditation Board whose term of office expires under subparagraph (6) is eligible for reappointment to that Board.

8. (8) A person who is reappointed to the Accreditation Board in accordance with subparagraph (7) shall not hold office for periods the aggregate of which exceeds 10 years.

9. (9) A period of time in office by a member of the Accreditation Board referred to in section 56A(11) (inserted by section 32 of the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014) prior to the coming into operation of that section shall be taken into account for the purposes of—

   • (a) subparagraph (6), and

   • (b) the 10 year period referred to in subparagraph (8).

   • A member of the Accreditation Board, other than the Manager of the Accreditation Board, shall be paid by the Authority such allowances for expenses incurred by the member as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, may determine.

   • (1) A member of the Accreditation Board, other than the Manager of the Accreditation Board, may resign from office by giving notice in writing to the Authority of his or her resignation and the resignation shall take effect on the day on which the Authority receives the notice.

10. (2) The Authority may at any time remove from office a member of the Accreditation Board if, in the opinion of the Authority—

    • (a) the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions,

    • (b) the member has committed stated misbehaviour, or

    • (c) the removal of the member appears to the Authority to be necessary for the effective performance by the Accreditation Board of its functions.

11. (3) A member of the Accreditation Board shall cease to be qualified for office and shall cease to hold office if he or she—

    • (a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

    • (b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

    • (c) is convicted of an indictable offence,

    • (d) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction,

    • (e) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

    • (f) is disqualified or restricted from being a director of any company within the meaning of the Companies Acts, or

    • (g) is removed from office under subparagraph (2).

    • (1) If a member of the Accreditation Board, other than the Manager of the Accreditation Board, dies, resigns, ceases to be qualified for or ceases to hold office or is removed from office for any reason, the Authority may appoint a person to be a member of that Board to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned.

12. (2) A person appointed to be a member of the Accreditation Board under subparagraph (1) shall for the purposes of the period referred to in paragraph 1(8) be taken to have been appointed on the date of that person’s appointment to fill the casual vacancy concerned.

13. (1) The Accreditation Board shall hold as many meetings as may be necessary, as determined by the chairperson, for the due fulfilment of its functions.

14. (2) The chairperson shall convene a meeting of the Accreditation Board when requested to do so by not less than the number of members which constitute a quorum.

15. (3) The quorum for a meeting of the Accreditation Board shall, unless the Authority otherwise directs, be 5.

16. (4) At a meeting of the Accreditation Board—

    • (a) the chairperson shall, if present, be the chairperson of the meeting, or

    • (b) if and so long as the chairperson is not present or if the office of chairperson is vacant, the deputy chairperson of the Board shall be chairperson of the meeting, or

    • (c) if and so long as the chairperson is not present or if the office of chairperson is vacant or the deputy chairperson is not present or the office of deputy chairperson is vacant, the members who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting.

17. (5) Every question that is to be decided at a meeting of the Accreditation Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members of the Accreditation Board present and voting on the question, and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairperson of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

18. (6) Subject to subparagraph (3), the Accreditation Board may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among its members.

19. (7) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Accreditation Board shall regulate its procedures (including procedures for electronic meetings).

20. (8) The Accreditation Board may hold or continue a meeting by the use of any means of communication by which all the members can hear and be heard at the same time (in this Schedule referred to as an ‘electronic meeting’).

21. (9) A member of the Accreditation Board who participates in an electronic meeting is taken for all purposes to have been present at the meeting.”.

PART 8 Amendments to Other Acts

37. Amendment of Act of 1993

37. (1) The Act of 1993 is amended—

• (a) in section 8, by substituting the following paragraphs for paragraphs (c) and (d):

• “(c) to administer such schemes, grants and other financial facilities requiring the disbursement of European Union funds and such other funds as may from time to time be authorised by the Minister with the agreement of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and

• (d) to carry out such other functions as may from time to time be assigned to it by the Minister.”,

• (b) by inserting the following new section after section 9A (inserted by section 97 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007)—

“Supply of information requested by the Minister

9B. (1) The Minister may request information from an institution in relation to—

• (a) the matters specified in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (d) of Article 2(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 995/2012 of 26 October 2012², and

• (b) research and development carried out by the institution where that institution is funded wholly or partly out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

• (2) An institution shall furnish any information requested from the institution under subsection (1) to the Minister in such form and at such time as the Minister specifies when making the request.

• (3) In this section ‘institution’ means any institute, university, college, laboratory, agency, office or service, whether under the control of a Minister of the Government or otherwise, which is wholly or partly engaged in research and development or any other activity related to science or technology.”,

and

• (c) in paragraph 8 of the First Schedule, by substituting the following subparagraph for subparagraph (2):

• “(2) Each committee established by IDA under this Act shall provide IDA with such information as it may require for the purposes of its functions.”.

• (2) Section 9 of the Act of 2013 is repealed.

38. Amendment of Act of 1995

38. The Act of 1995 is amended by substituting the following section for section 6:

“Power of Agencies to invest in certain bodies

6. (1) Subject to this section, IDA or Enterprise Ireland, or both of them, may invest or make a loan out of moneys at the disposal of IDA or Enterprise Ireland, or both of them, as the case may be, in or to a body to which this section applies.

• (2) IDA and Enterprise Ireland shall invest or make a loan under subsection (1) in accordance with—

  • (a) a scheme drawn up by IDA or Enterprise Ireland, or both, and approved by the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and

  • (b) such directions as may be given by the Minister from time to time.

• (3) A scheme referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) shall specify the financial limits of, and such other terms and conditions governing the making of, any investments or loans under subsection (1).

• (4) The Minister shall designate IDA or Enterprise Ireland, or both of them, to administer a scheme approved under subsection (2).

• (5) A copy of a scheme referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after the scheme is approved in accordance with that paragraph.

• (6) A scheme referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) may be amended or revoked by a subsequent scheme drawn up and approved in accordance with that paragraph.

• (7) The reference in subsection (1) to moneys at the disposal of IDA or Enterprise Ireland or both of them includes a reference to moneys arising from the administration of schemes, grants or other financial facilities involving the disbursement of European Union Funds.

• (8) This section applies to a body which is a body corporate, partnership or other body which is established for the purpose of investing in industry in the State, or a particular sector of industry in the State, and which administers, or proposes to administer, an investment fund or funds for that purpose.

• (9) IDA and Enterprise Ireland shall include full details of all investments and loans made by them or either of them under this section in their annual report.”.

39. Saver in respect of certain schemes

39. A scheme prepared under section 6 of the Act of 1995 that was in force immediately prior to the coming into operation of the amendment of that section by section 38,shall continue in force on and after that coming into operation as if the scheme had been made under section 6 of the Act of 1995 as so amended and the provisions of that section as so amended shall apply accordingly.

40. Amendment of Metrology Act 1996

40. Section 7 of the Metrology Act 1996 is amended by substituting the following subsection for subsection (3):

• “(3) The staff of the National Standards Authority of Ireland shall include a chief officer for the Service who shall be known as the Director of Legal Metrology.”.

41. Amendment of Act of 1998

41. The Act of 1998 is amended—

• (a) in subsection (1) of section 7, by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (k):

• “(k) to carry out such other functions as may from time to time be assigned to it by the Minister.”,

and

• (b) by substituting the following section for section 42:

“Prosecution of summary offences

42. (1) Proceedings in relation to a summary offence under section 16 may be brought and prosecuted by the Agency.

• (2) Proceedings in relation to a summary offence under paragraph 4 of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1993 may be brought and prosecuted by IDA.”.

42. Amendment of Act of 2003

42. The Act of 2003 is amended—

• (a) in section 7(1) (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 2013), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (i):

• “(i) carry out such other functions related to science or technology which may, from time to time, be assigned to the Foundation by the Minister.”,

• (b) in section 17, by inserting the following subsection after subsection (2):

• “(2A) Proceedings in relation to a summary offence under this section may be brought and prosecuted by the Foundation.”,

and

• (c) in section 25, by substituting the following subsection for subsection (2):

• “(2) A committee established under section 15 shall provide the Foundation with such information as the Foundation may, from time to time, require for the purposes of its functions.”.

SCHEDULE

Section 18

Functions Transferred to Enterprise Ireland and IDA

Functions referred to in:

Footnotes