Oireachtas (Miscellaneous Provisions) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1996
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Overnight allowance. |
2.—The Act of 1962 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 1: | |
“1. (1) In this section— | ||
‘the Dublin area’ means such area inclusive of the county borough of Dublin as may be declared by regulations to be for the purposes of this section the Dublin area; | ||
‘Leinster House’ has the same meaning as it has in section 2 (inserted by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992 ) of this Act; | ||
‘member to whom this section applies’ means a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann whose normal place of residence for the time being is not the Dublin area; | ||
‘meeting’ means a meeting of— | ||
(a) Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann, or | ||
(b) a committee of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann or a Committee of Dáil and Seanad Éireann of which the member to whom this section applies is a member, or | ||
(c) a meeting held in Leinster House between two or more members of either or both Houses of the Oireachtas to discuss parliamentary business. | ||
(2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, where a member to whom this section applies makes an overnight stay in the Dublin area because— | ||
(a) the member proposes to attend a meeting next day or | ||
(b) the member attends a meeting on any day to which subsection (2) (a) of this section does not apply, | ||
the member may be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas an overnight allowance in respect of accommodation of the amount for the time being sanctioned by the Minister for Finance for the purposes of this section. | ||
(3) In the case of a meeting held in Leinster House to which paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘meeting’ relates, subsection (2) (a) of this section shall apply subject to— | ||
(a) payment of an overnight allowance being made in respect of not more than five such meetings per year, and | ||
(b) no payment being made if the member concerned is eligible for a payment by virtue of a meeting to which paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of ‘meeting’ relates.”. |