Safety, Health and Welfare At Work Act, 1989

FIRST SCHEDULE

National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health

Section 15 .

1.—The Authority shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land or other property.

2.—The Authority shall consist of a chairman (in this Schedule referred to as “the chairman”) and ten ordinary members.

3.—The chairman and ordinary members of the Authority shall be appointed by the Minister.

4.—In appointing persons to be ordinary members of the Authority, the Minister shall appoint three persons nominated by such organisations representative of employees as he considers appropriate, three persons nominated by such organisations representative of employers as he considers appropriate, and four persons representative of such Government Departments, State Agencies and other bodies, whose activities are concerned with matters relating to any of the purposes of this Act, as he considers appropriate.

5.—The chairman may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister and his resignation shall take effect as on and from the date of the receipt of the letter by the Minister.

6.—The Minister may at any time remove the chairman from office.

7.—(1) Where a member 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,

he shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Authority.

(2) Where a person who is a member of the 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,

he shall thereupon stand seconded from employment by 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 he is so regarded as having been elected, as the case may be, and ending when he ceases to be a member of either such House or 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 is a member of the European Parliament shall, while he is so entitled or is such a member, be disqualified from becoming a member of the Authority or the staff of the Authority.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subparagraph (2), that subparagraph shall be construed as prohibiting, inter alia, the reckoning of a period mentioned in that subparagraph as service with the Authority for the purposes of any superannuation benefits.

8.—The chairman shall be appointed by the Minister either in a whole-time or a part-time capacity and shall hold office for not more than three years on such terms and conditions as the Minister determines with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

9.—The chairman shall be paid, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, such remuneration and allowances for expenses incurred by him as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

10.—Each ordinary member of the Authority shall be a part-time member and, subject to this Schedule, shall hold office for three years on such terms and conditions as the Minister determines with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

11.—The chairman and an ordinary member of the Authority whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

12.—The Minister may at any time remove an ordinary member of the Authority from office.

13.—An ordinary member of the Authority may resign his office as such member by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect as on and from the date of the receipt of the letter by the Minister.

14.—A member of the Authority shall be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office if he is adjudged bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with creditors or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to suffer imprisonment or penal servitude or ceases to be ordinarily resident in the State.

15.—Each ordinary member of the Authority shall be paid, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, such expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may sanction.

16.—The Minister shall appoint one of the ordinary members of the Authority to be a vice-chairman of the Authority with the function of acting as chairman in the absence of the chairman.

17.—Where a casual vacancy occurs among the ordinary members of the Authority the Minister shall forthwith invite the organisation which previously nominated that member to nominate a person for appointment to fill the vacancy and the Minister shall appoint the person nominated to fill the vacancy.

18.—(1) The Authority shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions and may make arrangements for the regulation of its proceedings and business.

(2) Such arrangements may, with the approval of the Minister, provide for the discharge, under the general direction of the Authority, of any of its functions by a committee of the Authority.

19.—The Minister may fix or sanction the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Authority.

20.—The quorum for a meeting of the Authority shall be five members.

21.—At a meeting of the Authority—

(a) the chairman shall, if present, be the chairman of the meeting;

(b) in the absence of the chairman or, if the office of chairman of the Authority is vacant, the vice-chairman of the Authority shall act as chairman;

(c) if, and so long as, the chairman is not present or, if the office of chairman of the Authority is vacant and the vice-chairman is not present or the office of vice-chairman is vacant, the members of the Authority present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

22.—The chairman and each ordinary member of the Authority attending a meeting of the Authority shall have a vote.

23.—Every question at a meeting of the Authority shall be determined by a majority of the votes cast on the question and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

24.—The Authority may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.

25.—Subject to this Schedule, the Authority shall regulate its procedure and business.

26.—(1) The Authority shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal.

(2) The seal of the Authority shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman or some other member of the Authority authorised by it to act in that behalf and by the signature of an officer of the Authority authorised by it to act in that behalf.

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Authority and any document sealed with the seal shall be received in evidence.

27.—No person shall be a civil servant by virtue only of membership of the Authority.