Marine Institute Act, 1991

SCHEDULE

The Marine Institute

Section 3 .

1. The Institute shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and, with the consent of the Minister, to acquire, hold and dispose of land or any rights in, over or under land or water and to acquire, hold and dispose of any other property.

2. The Institute shall consist of a chairman, and eight ordinary members, who shall be appointed to be members of the Institute by the Minister by virtue of their experience in fields of expertise relevant to the functions of the Institute.

3. The chairman of the Institute may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister.

4. The Minister may at any time remove the chairman of the Institute from office.

5. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the chairman of the Institute shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may with the consent of the Minister for Finance determine.

6. The chairman of the Institute shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of the Institute, such remuneration and allowances for expenses incurred by him as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine.

7. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, each ordinary member of the Institute shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine.

8. (1) The term of office of the chairman of the Institute shall be five years.

(2) (a) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, the term of office of an ordinary member of the Institute shall be five years.

(b) The term of office of three (determined by the Minister by lot) of the first eight persons appointed to be ordinary members of the Institute shall be three years.

(c) The term of office of three (determined by the Minister by lot) of the first eight persons appointed to be ordinary members of the Institute shall be four years.

9. (1) If a member of the Institute dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the Institute to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned and the person so appointed shall be appointed in the same manner as the member of the Institute who occasioned the casual vacancy.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of the Institute by virtue of this paragraph shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy he is appointed to fill and shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of the Institute.

10. A member of the Institute whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of the Institute.

11. The Minister may at any time remove an ordinary member of the Institute from office if he has committed stated misbehaviour or if his removal appears necessary for the effective performance by the Institute of its functions.

12. A vacancy of the Institute shall be filled within sixty days.

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

14. A member of the Institute 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 convicted on indictment by a court of competent jurisdiction or ceases to be ordinarily resident in the State.

15. Each ordinary member of the Institute shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of the Institute, such remuneration (if any) and allowances for expenses incurred by him (if any) as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, sanction.

16. The Institute shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

17. The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Institute.

18. The quorum for a meeting of the Institute shall be four.

19. At a meeting of the Institute—

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

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the Institute is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of the Institute who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

20. The chairman of the Institute, and each ordinary member of the Institute, present at a meeting thereof shall have a vote.

21. Every question at a meeting of the Institute shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting 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.

22. The Institute may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members: provided there is a quorum.

23. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the Institute shall regulate, by standing orders, the procedure and business of the Institute.

24. The Institute shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal.

25. The seal of the Institute shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman of the Institute or of some other member thereof authorised by the Institute to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of the Institute authorised by the Institute to act in that behalf.

26. Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Institute and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Institute and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with paragraph 25 of this Schedule) of the Institute shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.

27. Any member of the Institute who has—

(a) any material or financial interest in any area of operation of the Institute, or

(b) any material or financial interest in any contract which the Institute makes or proposes to make,

shall disclose to the Institute the fact of the interest and the nature thereof, and shall take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Institute relating to the area of operation or contract, and the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Institute.