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Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019

Type Act

Publication 2019-12-23

Last updated 2024-11-18

State In force

Text Latest available text

Source Irish Statute Book

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articles 72

This is the most recent text the official source publishes. It is not a snapshot of the law as it stood on the date of each change.

5 amending acts · 2024-11-18, revised-IE-2019-act-47@2024-11-18

Act to provide for the regulation of approved housing bodies for the purposes of protecting certain housing assets provided or managed by such bodies; to establish a body to be known in the Irish language as An tUdaras Riala.Ia na gComhlachtai Tithiochta Faomhaithe or, in the English language, as the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority and to confer functions on it; to provide for the registration of certain persons as approved housing bodies; to provide for the setting of standards for approved housing bodies relating to governance, financial management, property and asset management and tenancy management and compliance with those standards; to provide for the carrying out of standards assessments and the monitoring of the implementation of compliance plans; to provide for the carrying out of investigations; to make provision in relation to the protection of approved housing bodies; to provide for the application, with modification, of certain provisions of the Companies Act 2014 to approved housing bodies; to provide for the cancellation of registration of approved housing bodies; to provide for the establishment of an Appeals Panel to hear appeals from certain decisions of the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority; for those purposes to amend the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992; and to provide for related matters.

Reform history JSON API

(1) If a member of the Regulator dies, resigns, ceases to be qualified for office or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the Regulator to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned in the same manner as the member of the Regulator who occasioned the casual vacancy was appointed.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of the Regulator pursuant to subparagraph (1) shall hold office for that period of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy concerned that remains unexpired at the date of his or her appointment and shall, subject to paragraph 2(8), be eligible for reappointment as a member of the Regulator on the expiry of the said period.

(1) The Regulator shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the due fulfilment of its functions.

(2) The Minister shall fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Regulator.

(3) At a meeting of the Regulator—

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

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

(4) At a meeting of the Regulator—

(a) subject to clause (c), each member of the Regulator present has one vote,

(b) every question shall be determined by consensus, but where in the opinion of the chairperson or other person presiding consensus is not possible, the question shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and

(c) in the case of an equal division of votes in circumstances to which clause (b) relates, the chairperson of the meeting has a second or casting vote.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Regulator shall regulate its procedure by rules or otherwise (including procedures for electronic meetings).

(6) The Regulator 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”).

(7) Subject to subparagraph (8), the Regulator may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among its members.

(8) The quorum for a meeting of the Regulator, unless the Minister otherwise directs, shall be—

(a) 4, where the Regulator consists of less than 8 members, and

(b) 5, where the Regulator consists of 8 members or more.

(1) The Regulator may establish committees, consisting in whole or in part of persons who are members of the Regulator, to—

(a) assist and advise it in relation to the performance of any or all of its functions, and

(b) perform such functions of the Regulator as may stand delegated to them under paragraph 8.

(2) In appointing members of a committee established under this paragraph, the Regulator shall—

(a) have regard to the range of qualifications and experience necessary for the proper and effective discharge of the functions of the committee, and

(b) in so far as is practicable, endeavour to ensure that among the members of the Regulator there is an equitable balance between men and women.

(3) There may be paid by the Regulator to members of a committee established under this paragraph such allowances for expenses (if any) incurred by them as the Regulator may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine.

(4) A member of a committee established under this paragraph may be removed from office at any time by the Regulator.

(5) The acts of a committee shall be subject to confirmation by the Regulator, unless the Regulator otherwise determines.

(6) The Regulator may determine the terms of reference and regulate the procedure of a committee established under this paragraph.

(7) The Regulator may appoint a person to be chairperson of a committee established under this paragraph.

(8) A committee established under this paragraph shall provide the Regulator with such information as the Regulator may from time to time require, in respect of its activities and operations, for the purposes of the performance of the functions of the Regulator.

(9) The Regulator may at any time dissolve a committee established under this paragraph.

The Regulator may, with the consent of the Minister, delegate such one or more of its functions as it considers appropriate to a committee established under paragraph 7.

(1) Where a member of the Regulator, a member of a committee established under paragraph 7 or the chief executive is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

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

(c) regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament,

he or she shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Regulator, the committee concerned or chief executive, as the case may be.

(2) Where a member of the staff of the Regulator is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

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

(c) regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament,

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

(3) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein or who is a representative in the European Parliament shall, while he or she is so entitled or is such a representative, be disqualified for being a member of the Regulator or a committee established under paragraph 7, the chief executive or a member of the staff of the Regulator.

(4) A period mentioned in subparagraph (2) shall not, for the purposes of any superannuation benefit, be reckoned as service with the Regulator.

10.

(1) Where at a meeting of the Regulator or a committee established under paragraph 7, a member of the Regulator or the committee, as the case may be, present at the meeting who, otherwise than in his or her capacity as such member, has a material interest in any matter which falls to be considered by the Regulator or that committee, such member shall—

(a) at the meeting disclose to the Regulator or the committee the fact of such interest and the nature thereof,

(b) neither influence nor seek to influence a decision to be made in relation to the matter,

(d) take no part in consideration of the matter, and

(e) not vote on a decision relating to the matter.

(2) Where a material interest is disclosed pursuant to this paragraph, the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting concerned and, for so long as the matter to which the disclosure relates is being dealt with by the meeting, the member of the Regulator or the committee established under paragraph 7, as the case may be, by whom the disclosure is made shall not be counted in the quorum for the meeting.

(3) Where at a meeting of the Regulator or a committee established under paragraph 7 a question arises as to whether or not a course of conduct, if pursued by a member of the Regulator or the committee, as the case may be, would constitute a failure by such member to comply with the requirements of subparagraph (1), the question may, subject to subparagraph (4), be determined by the chairperson of the meeting, whose decision shall be final, and where such a question is so determined, particulars of the determination shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

(4) Where, at a meeting of the Regulator or a committee established under paragraph 7, the chairperson of the meeting is the member in respect of whom a question to which subparagraph (3) applies falls to be determined, then the other members of the Regulator or of the committee attending the meeting shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting for the purpose of determining the question concerned.

(5) Where the Minister is satisfied that a member of the Regulator has contravened subparagraph (1), the Minister may, if he or she thinks fit, remove that member from office and, where a person is removed from office pursuant to this subparagraph, he or she shall thenceforth be disqualified for membership of the Regulator.

(6) Where the Regulator is satisfied that a member of a committee established under paragraph 7 has contravened subparagraph (1), the Regulator may, if it thinks fit, remove that member from office and, where a person is removed from office pursuant to this subparagraph, he or she shall thenceforth be disqualified for membership of the Regulator or such a committee.

(7) In this paragraph and paragraph 11 “material interest” shall be construed in accordance with section 2(3) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995.

11.

(1) Where a member of the staff of the Regulator has a material interest, otherwise than in his or her capacity as such a member, in any contract, agreement or arrangement, or proposed contract, agreement or arrangement, to which the Regulator is a party, that person shall—

(a) disclose to the Regulator the fact of such interest and the nature thereof,

(b) take no part in the negotiation of the contract, agreement or arrangement or in any deliberation by the Regulator or members of the staff of the Regulator in relation thereto, and

(c) neither influence nor seek to influence a decision to be made in the matter nor make any recommendation in relation to the contract, agreement or arrangement.

(2) Subparagraph (1) shall not apply to contracts or proposed contracts of employment of members of the staff of the Regulator with the Regulator.

(3) Where a person contravenes this paragraph, the Regulator may make such alterations to the person’s terms and conditions of employment as it considers appropriate or terminate the person’s contract of employment.

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