Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1997
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Local Government (Equalisation) Council. |
7.—(1) There shall stand established, on the commencement of this section, a body which shall be known as the Local Government (Equalisation) Council and is in this Act referred to as “the Council”. | |
(2) The Council shall— | ||
(a) be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and to be sued in its corporate name, | ||
(b) consist of such and so many members as the Minister determines. | ||
(3) The members of the Council shall be appointed by the Minister; a person shall not be eligible for appointment as such a member unless he or she is a member or ex-member or an officer or ex-officer of a local authority, an officer of the Minister or a person whom the Minister considers otherwise possesses qualifications or experience that make him or her suitable for appointment as such a member. | ||
(4) The Minister may by order confer on the Council one or more of the following functions of the Minister, namely— | ||
(a) the functions under subsections (2) and (5) of section 4 , | ||
(b) the functions under subsection (1) of section 6 , | ||
(c) so much of the functions under subsections (2) and (3) of section 6 as relate to the payment out of the Fund of an amount of moneys referred to in either of the said subsections, | ||
(d) the functions under subsections (2) and (3) of section 10 , | ||
(e) the functions under subsection (1) of section 11 , | ||
and any such function or functions so conferred on the Council shall, for so long as the order remains in force, be performable by the Council and not by the Minister. | ||
(5) The Minister may, by a direction given by him or her for the purposes of this subsection, require the Council to prepare and furnish to the Minister a report in relation to any matter concerning the operation of the Fund (and such a report may include recommendations of the Council in relation to that matter). | ||
(6) An order under subsection (4) that confers on the Council the functions of the Minister under subsection (5) of section 4 may provide that the Council shall, in performing the said functions, submit, for audit, the accounts referred to in the said subsection (5) to a person other than the Comptroller and Auditor General, being a person whom the Minister is satisfied possesses such qualifications as will enable him or her properly to conduct such an audit, and, for so long as an order under subsection (4) provides as aforesaid, each reference in subsection (5) of section 4 to the Comptroller and Auditor General shall be construed as a reference to such a person. | ||
(7) An order under subsection (4) that confers on the Council the functions referred to in paragraph (c) of that subsection may provide that the said functions shall be performed by the Council subject to such conditions as are specified in the order, being conditions requiring the payment out of the Fund, in such amounts and at such times as are specified in a direction given by the Minister for the purposes of those conditions, of moneys referred to in subsection (2) or (3) of section 6 . | ||
(8) Without prejudice to subsections (4) and (5), the Minister may, if he or she so thinks fit, by order confer on the Council such functions in relation to the acquisition, use or disposal by local authorities of the resources necessary for the performance of their functions as he or she considers appropriate. | ||
(9) The Minister may by order provide for such one or more of the following as he or she considers appropriate, namely— | ||
(a) the terms of office of members of the Council, | ||
(b) the payment to such members (at such rates as are determined, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by the Minister) of remuneration or allowances for expenses, | ||
(c) the removal of such members from office, | ||
(d) the quorum of such members necessary for any decision at a meeting of the Council to be properly taken, | ||
(e) the payment out of the Fund of moneys for the purpose of meeting any remuneration or allowances for expenses referred to in paragraph (b), | ||
(f) the employment by the Council of staff or the supply to it by the Minister or a local authority of the services of staff of the Department or the authority, as the case may be, | ||
(g) the keeping by the Council of accounts, | ||
(h) transitional provisions in relation to cases where an order under subsection (4) is made, amended or revoked, | ||
(i) provisions enabling the Council to perform effectively its functions, | ||
(j) any matters consequential on, or incidental to, the foregoing. | ||
(10) The Minister may, from time to time, give to the Council a general directive in writing as to policy regarding the performance by it of any of its functions and the Council shall in performing its functions have regard to any such directive. | ||
(11) Nothing in subsection (10) shall be construed as enabling the Minister to exercise any power or control in relation to the performance, in particular circumstances, by the Council of any of its functions. |