National Institute For Higher Education, Limerick, Act, 1980

FIRST SCHEDULE

The Governing Body

Section 5.

1. (1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the Governing Body shall provide and retain in its possession a seal of the Institute.

(2) The seal of the Institute shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman or a member of the Governing Body authorised by the Governing Body to act in that behalf and by the signature of an officer of the Institute authorised to act in that behalf.

(3) 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 this Schedule) of the Institute shall be received in evidence and shall be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.

2. (1) The chairman of the Governing Body shall be appointed by the Government on the recommendation of the Minister and may be removed from office by the Government on the recommendation of the Minister.

(2) The chairman of the Governing Body may, at any time, resign his office as chairman by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect from the date on which the letter is received.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the chairman of the Governing Body shall hold office as chairman upon such terms as the Government may, at the date of his appointment, decide.

(4) The chairman of the Governing Body shall cease to hold office on attaining the age of seventy years.

3. (1) Every ordinary member of the Governing Body shall be appointed by the Government on the recommendation of the Minister and may be removed from office by the Government on the recommendation of the Minister.

(2) An ordinary member of the Governing Body may, at any time, resign his office as such member by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect from the date on which the letter is received.

(3) An ordinary member of the Governing Body shall cease to hold office on attaining the age of seventy years.

(4) An ordinary member of the Governing Body whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

4. (1) An ordinary member of the Governing Body (including the chairman but excluding an ordinary member who is a registered student of the Institute) shall hold office for a period not exceeding five years.

(2) An ordinary member of the Governing Body who is a student shall hold office for the period of one year.

5. (1) The Governing Body shall, from time to time as occasion requires, appoint from amongst its members (other than the chairman or the Director) a member to be deputy-chairman thereof.

(2) The deputy-chairman of the Governing Body shall, unless he sooner resigns the office of deputy-chairman or ceases to be deputy-chairman under sub-paragraph (3) of this paragraph, hold office until the expiration of his period of office as a member of the Governing Body.

(3) Where the deputy-chairman of the Governing Body ceases during his term of office as such to be a member of the Governing Body, he shall also then cease to be deputy-chairman of the Governing Body.

6. (a) Where a member of the Governing Body—

(i) is nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann or for election to either house of the Oireachtas, or is nominated for election to, or is appointed to be a representative in, the Assembly of the European Communities,

(ii) is adjudged bankrupt or makes under the protection or procedure of a court, a composition or arrangement with his creditors, or

(iii) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction,

he shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Governing Body.

(b) A person shall not be eligible to be a member of the Governing Body if—

(i) he is, for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein,

(ii) he is for the time being a representative in the Assembly of the European Communities,

(iii) he is an undischarged bankrupt,

(iv) within the immediately preceding three years he has, under the protection of a court, made a composition or arrangement with his creditors, or

(v) within the immediately preceding five years, he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction.

7. (1) A member of the Governing Body who has—

(a) any interest in any company or concern with which the Institute proposes to make any contract, or

(b) any interest in any contract which the Institute proposes to make,

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

(2) A member of the Governing Body who is related to a person who is a candidate for appointment by the Governing Body as an officer or servant of the Institute shall disclose to the Governing Body the fact of the relationship and the nature thereof and shall, if the Governing Body so decide, take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Governing Body relating to the appointment, and the disclosure and decision shall be recorded in the minutes of the Governing Body.

8. The chairman and ordinary members of the Governing Body shall be paid out of funds at the disposal of the Governing Body such remuneration (if any) and such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the approval of the Minister for the Public Service, may decide.

9. (1) The Governing Body shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

(2) The Minister shall fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Governing Body.

(3) The quorum for a meeting of the Governing Body shall be eight members.

10. At a meeting—

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

(b) if and so long as the chairman is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the deputy-chairman shall, if he is present, be chairman of the meeting,

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

11. Every question at a meeting of the Governing Body 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 and casting vote.

12. Subject to Article 9 (3) of this Schedule, the Governing Body may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.

13. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Governing Body shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, its procedure and business.

14. The Governing Body shall control and conduct the affairs of the Institute and shall carry out all functions assigned to it by this Act and in particular the Governing Body—

(a) shall determine the conditions under which persons shall be admitted to the Institute and to any particular course of study therein,

(b) shall determine the conditions under which a student, having been admitted to the Institute, may be excluded from it,

(c) may enter into relationships with other institutions on such terms and conditions as the Governing Body may decide,

(d) may co-operate with any other institution, authority or body for any purpose of the Institute,

(e) subject to paragraph (a) of this Article, may accept in fulfilment or partial fulfilment of the requirement for entry to any course of study in the Institute, attendance by a student at a course or portion of a course in a Regional Technical College or such other institution as the Governing Body may decide, and

(f) may engage such consultants or advisers as it may consider necessary for the performance of its functions and any fees payable to such consultants or advisers shall be paid by the Institute out of moneys at its disposal.