Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021

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Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of sections 31A to 31C

13. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following sections after section 31:

“Establishment of Placenames Committee

31A. (1) On the commencement of section 13 of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 there shall stand established a committee to be known as the Placenames Committee.

(2) The secretariat and the executive functions of the Placenames Committee shall be provided by the Minister.

Membership of Placenames Committee

31B. (1) The Placenames Committee shall consist of the following members—

(a) a Chairperson, and

(b) not less than 7 and not more than 10 ordinary members,

each of whom shall be appointed by the Minister.

(2) The Minister shall designate one member of the Placenames Committee as Chairperson.

(3) The Placenames Committee shall consist of persons who are competent in the Irish language, and—

(a) have experience of, or expertise in, matters relating to placenames, or both, or

(b) are experts in Irish history.

(4) A member of the Placenames Committee shall be subject to such terms and conditions and be paid such allowances for expenses as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine.

(5) If the Chairperson is for any reason unable to continue to act as Chairperson, the Minister may designate another member of the Placenames Committee to act as Chairperson.

(6) A member of the Placenames Committee shall hold office for such period not exceeding 3 years from the date of his or her appointment, as the Minister shall determine.

(7) Subject to subsection (8), a member of the Placenames Committee whose term of office expires by the effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment to the Placenames Committee.

(8) A member of the Placenames Committee who has served 2 consecutive terms of office shall not be eligible for reappointment to the Placenames Committee until a period of 3 years has elapsed following the end of the second consecutive term.

(9) A member of the Placenames Committee may resign from the Placenames Committee by letter addressed to the Minister, and the resignation shall take effect on the date specified in the letter, or the date on which the Minister receives the letter, whichever is the later.

(10) A member of the Placenames Committee may at any time be removed from membership of the Placenames Committee by the Minister if, in the Minister’s opinion, the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions, or has committed stated misbehaviour, or his or her removal appears to the Minister to be necessary for the effective performance by the Placenames Committee of its functions.

(11) A member of the Placenames Committee shall cease to be, and shall be disqualified from being, a member of the Placenames Committee where such member—

(a) on conviction on indictment by a court of competent jurisdiction is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, or

(b) is subject or is deemed to be subject to a disqualification order, within the meaning of Chapter 4 of Part 14 of the Companies Act 2014 , whether by virtue of that Chapter or any other provision of that Act.

(12) The Minister shall determine the procedures of the Placenames Committee.

Functions of Placenames Committee

31C. (1) The Placenames Committee shall—

(a) provide advice to the Minister regarding the making of placenames orders under section 32,

(b) carry out, or commission, research in relation to placenames,

(c) provide, on request, such information to the public and to public bodies regarding placenames as the Placenames Committee considers appropriate, and

(d) have such other functions as the Minister may, from time to time, prescribe.

(2) In carrying out its functions under subsection (1), the Placenames Committee shall, to such extent as it considers necessary for that purpose, take into account and provide to the Minister any work or advice completed by the body known as An Coimisiún Logainmneacha, established by warrant of the Minister for Finance dated the 24th day of October 1946, and the non-statutory committee (known as the Placenames Committee) in existence before the commencement of section 13 of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021.”.