Institutes of Technology Act 2006

Amendment of section 14 of DIT Act.

41.— The DIT Act is amended by substituting the following section for section 14:

“Budgets.

14.— (1) The Governing Body shall, on or before the 1st day of March in each financial year or such other date as An tÚdarás may approve (which may be a date before the commencement of the financial year to which the statement relates), prepare and submit to An tÚdarás, in such form and manner as may from time to time be approved by An tÚdarás, a statement of the proposed expenditure and expected income of the Institute for the financial year.

(2) An tÚdarás shall, having regard to the statement submitted under subsection (1), determine the amount of money to be allocated to the Institute for the financial year from moneys provided to An tÚdarás pursuant to section 12 of the Higher Education Authority Act 1971 , and the amount so allocated, together with the other expected income of the Institute as agreed with An tÚdarás, shall be the budget of the Institute for the financial year.

(3) When the budget of the Institute has been determined, it shall be a function of the President, acting on the authority of the Governing Body, to carry it into effect.

(4) An tÚdarás may at any time, on application made to it by the Governing Body, increase the amount of money to be allocated to the Institute from moneys provided to An tÚdarás.

(5) Where the President is of opinion that—

(a) the actual expenditure in a financial year, or

(b) a proposed course of action,

taking into account any increased allocation under subsection (4), will or is likely to result in expenditure in excess of the budget for that financial year (in this section referred to as a ‘material departure from the budget’), the President shall so inform the Governing Body.

(6) Where the Governing Body, despite being so informed, decides—

(a) in the case of subsection (5)(a), not to decrease its actual expenditure, or

(b) in the case of subsection (5)(b), to continue with its proposed course of action,

the President, as soon as practicable, shall, unless he or she concludes that contrary to his or her foregoing opinion a material departure from the budget will not occur, inform An tÚdarás of the decision of the Governing Body.

(7) Where, notwithstanding this section, the Institute incurs expenditure in excess of its budget that is not met from the income of the Institute other than the money allocated to it by An tÚdarás, that excess shall be a first charge on the budget for the next succeeding financial year.

(8) The Institute may borrow money by means of bank overdraft or otherwise and may guarantee or underwrite a loan taken or borrowing undertaken by a person or a body of persons.

(9) Borrowing, guaranteeing and underwriting under subsection (8) shall be in accordance with arrangements entered into from time to time between the Institute and An tÚdarás; An tÚdarás shall consult with the Minister and the Minister for Finance before entering into such arrangements.”.