Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006

Amendment of Schedule to Act of 1999.

10.— (1) The Act of 1999 is amended—

(a) by the renumbering of the Schedule to that Act as Schedule 1 to that Act, and

(b) in section 8(3) by substituting “Schedule 1” for “The Schedule”.

(2) Schedule 1 to the Act of 1999 (as renumbered by subsection (1)) is amended—

(a) in paragraph 2, by the deletion of “, to hold office in a full-time capacity for a period of not less than three and not more than five years”,

(b) by the insertion, after paragraph 2 of the following paragraphs:

“2A. Where the chairperson appointed pursuant to paragraph 2 is not available to perform his or her duties, the Minister may appoint another member of the Commission to be the acting chairperson of the Commission for a specified period not exceeding 6 months, and a person so appointed shall perform the duties and functions of the chairperson.

2B. Where there is more than one member of the Commission, each member of the Commission, including the chairperson, shall have a vote and any matter on which a decision is to be taken by the Commission shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members of the Commission present when the vote is called and voting on the question and in the case of an equal division of votes the chairperson of the Commission appointed pursuant to paragraph 2 or 2A shall, if present and voting, have a second and casting vote.”,

(c) in paragraph 3 by the substitution of “A member of the Commission whose term of office expires” for “A member of the Commission, including the chairperson, whose term of office expires”,

(d) in paragraph 4 by the substitution of “two terms of office as a member” for “two terms of office”,

and

(e) in paragraph 25—

(i) by the substitution of the following for subparagraph (b):

“(b) submit accounts kept under subparagraph (a) in respect of each year to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit and those accounts when so audited shall, together with—

(i) the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon, and

(ii) a report of the Commission to the Minister in relation to the performance of its functions in the previous year,

be presented within 6 months of the end of the financial year to the Minister, who shall cause copies of the accounts, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the report of the Commission in relation to its functions to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas, and”,

and

(ii) by the substitution for subparagraph (c) of the following:

“(c) not later than 30 November in each year make a report to the Minister in relation to its proposed work programme for the following year and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable.”.