NATIONAL STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF IRELAND ACT, 1996

FIRST SCHEDULE The National Standards Authority of Ireland

The National Standards Authority of Ireland

Section 6.

Incorporation.

1. (1) The Authority shall be a body corporate with the power to sue and be sued in its own name.

(2) The Authority shall have the power to acquire, hold and dispose of land and other property, including intellectual property.

Membership.

2. (1) The members of the Authority shall constitute the Board of that body.

(2) The Board of the Authority shall consist of not more than 13 members.

(3) The Board of the Authority shall include its Chief Executive Officer.

(4) Subject to paragraph 1 (3) of the Second Schedule the members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister from among those interests involved in the process of standardisation and certification of commodities, processes and practices, without any single interest predominating, taking into account guidelines issued from time to time by the Government and, in particular, providing for staff-representation on the Board.

(5) The Minister, after consultation with any recognised trade unions or staff associations concerned, shall make such regulations as are considered necessary or desirable in order to provide for staff-representation on the Board.

(6) One member of the Board shall be designated as Chairperson by the Minister and two other members may be designated as Deputy Chairpersons by the Board.

(7) The Board of the Authority shall hold such and so many meetings as it considers necessary for the fulfilment of the functions assigned to it by this Act. The Chairperson shall take the chair at each meeting of the Board. In the absence of the Chairperson at any meeting, the chair shall be taken by a Deputy Chairperson or in the absence of a Deputy Chairperson by such person as the Board shall, in respect of such meeting, select.

(8) The Chairperson and other members of the Authority shall hold office on such terms and conditions (which may include remuneration and expenses) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall determine.

(9) The Board may act by any five of its members provided seven clear days notice by letter or fax has been given of the meeting.

(10) The Board may regulate its own procedure.

Period of office of members.

3. (1) On every anniversary of the establishment day, three of the members of the Board, excluding the ex-officio chief executive, shall retire.

(2) The members to retire each year shall be those who have been longest in office since their previous appointment but, as between persons who first became members on the same day, those to retire shall (unless they otherwise agree amongst themselves) be determined by lot.

(3) A retiring member shall be eligible for reappointment.

Conditions of office.

4. (1) The Minister may remove a Board member from office.

(2) A member may resign office by notice in writing to the Minister with a copy to the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority and the resignation shall take effect on the date on which the Minister receives the notice.

(3) A member shall be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office if that member is adjudged bankrupt, or makes a composition or arrangement with creditors, or is convicted of any indictable offence in relation to a company, or is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty whether in connection with a company or not, or is the subject of an order under section 160 of the Companies Act, 1990.

(4) Where a member 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 cease to be a member of the Board.

(5) The conditions of office applicable to Board members and set out in subparagraph (3) shall also apply to members of committees or other bodies constituted under this Act.

The seal.

5. (1) The Authority shall provide itself with a seal.

(2) The seal of the Authority shall, when applied to a document, be attested to by the signature of two members of the Authority or by the signature of a member and of a member of staff of the Authority authorised by it to act in that behalf or by the signature of two members of staff of the Authority so authorised.

Symbol of the Authority.

6. (1) The Authority shall have the exclusive right to the use of such symbol or representation as it may select or devise and thereafter display or exhibit in connection with its activities or affairs.

(2) Any person who uses a symbol or representation identical with that of the Authority or which so nearly resembles that of the Authority as to be likely to deceive shall, subject to section 30 (3), be guilty of an offence.

The Authority, contracts and instruments.

7. (1) All courts of justice shall take judicial note of the seal of the Authority, and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Authority and to be sealed with its seal and to be attested in accordance with this paragraph shall, unless the contrary is shown, be received in evidence and deemed to be that instrument without further proof.

(2) Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed by an individual, would not require to be under seal may be entered into or executed on behalf of the Authority by any person generally or specially authorised by the Authority for that purpose.

Annual report and accounts.

8. (1) The Authority shall submit, in such form as the Minister may direct, an annual report of its activities after the end of the financial year to which it refers and a general programme of future work. The Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas not later than six months after the end of that financial year.

(2) The Authority shall keep, in such form as may be approved of by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, all proper and usual accounts of money received and expended by it and, in particular, shall keep in such form as aforesaid all special accounts as the Minister may from time to time direct.

(3) The accounts of the Authority shall be submitted annually to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit at such times as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall direct and when so audited shall, together with the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon, be presented to the Minister, who shall cause copies thereof to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

Information.

9. (1) The Authority shall supply the Minister with such information regarding its activities as the Minister may from time to time require.

(2) Any committee or other body established under this Act shall provide the Authority with such information as it may require for the purposes of its functions.

SECOND SCHEDULE Members and Staff

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.