Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Act 2009

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Functions of Secretary General.

12.— (1) Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

“(1) Subject to determination of matters of policy by the Commission and except as otherwise directed by the Commission or provided by or under any other Act, the Secretary General of the Service has the authority, responsibility and accountability for carrying out the following duties in respect of the Service:

(a) managing and controlling generally the staff and administration of the Service, implementing and monitoring Commission policies appropriate to that service, and delivering outputs as determined with the Commission,

(b) providing advice to the Commission and the chairperson of the Commission on the performance of their functions under this Act,

(c) preparing, with a view to giving effect to subsection (6), an outline of how specific elements of the responsibilities described in paragraphs (d) to (i) are to be assigned so as to ensure that the functions performed on behalf of the Commission are performed by a member of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank,

(d) providing advice to the Commission with respect to any matter within, affecting or connected with, the responsibilities of the Service giving rise to material expenditure chargeable to its accounts,

(e) ensuring that appropriate arrangements are put into place that will facilitate an effective response to matters that pertain to both the Service and other branches of the public service,

(f) ensuring that the resources of the Service are used in a manner that is in accordance with the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 with a view to enabling the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 19(1) of that Act to be appropriately addressed by the Secretary General,

(g) preparing a statement on internal financial control for the purpose of it being reviewed by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the context of the audit to which section 14(2) relates,

(h) examining and developing means that will improve the provision by the Service of cost effective services,

(i) subject to the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 and the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 , managing all matters pertaining to appointments, performance, discipline and dismissals of staff below the grade of Principal, or its equivalent in the Service,

(j) assigning the responsibility for performance of the functions for which the Secretary General is responsible to members of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank, including the conditions pertaining to such assignments, in order to ensure coherence of policy across the Service and ensuring that, where appropriate, the responsibility for the performance of those functions is further assigned to other members of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank,

(k) providing progress reports on the implementation of the strategic plan, as defined in subsection (4)(b), annually to the Commission.”,

(b) by substituting for subsection (3) the following:

“(3) The Secretary General is accountable to the Commission in carrying out the duties or functions referred to in subsection (1) and is accountable to it for ensuring economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of Commission resources.”,

(c) by inserting after subsection (4) the following:

“(4A) The Secretary General shall prepare a statement of values for the Service and shall include such statement in the strategic plan referred to in subsection (4).”,

(d) by substituting for subsection (5) the following:

“(5) The Commission may, subject to this or any other Act, give directions in writing to the Secretary General in connection with his or her functions under subsections (1) to (4) other than—

(a) subsection (1)(i),

(b) matters regarding the management of individual staff of the Service, and

(c) in relation to advice sought from or given by him or her in his or her capacity as Clerk of Dáil Éireann in respect of Dáil Éireann or any of its committees or members.”,

and

(e) in subsection (6)(a)(vi), by substituting “(1)(i)” for “(1)(g)”.

(2) Section 14(2) (as amended by section 9 of the Act of 2006) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “16(1)(g)” for “16(1)(ea)”.