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Accountability to Oireachtas Committees
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270. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Chief Inspector shall, at the request in writing of a committee, attend before it to give account of the general administration of the Office of the Chief Inspector.
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(2) The Chief Inspector shall not be required to give account before a committee for any matter which is or has been, or may be at a future date, the subject of proceedings before a court or tribunal in the State.
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(3) Where the Chief Inspector is of the opinion that a matter in respect of which he or she is requested to give an account before a committee is a matter to which subsection (2) applies, he or she shall inform the committee of that opinion and the reasons for that opinion and, unless the information is conveyed to the committee at a time when the Chief Inspector is before it, the information shall be so conveyed in writing.
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(4) Where the Chief Inspector has informed a committee of an opinion in accordance with subsection (3) and the committee does not withdraw the request referred to in subsection (1) in so far as it relates to the subject matter of the opinion—
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(a) the Chief Inspector may, not later than 42 days after being informed by the committee of its decision not to do so, apply to the High Court in a summary manner for determination of the question whether the matter is one to which subsection (2) applies, or
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(b) the Chairperson of the committee may, on behalf of the committee, make such an application,
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and the High Court shall determine the matter.
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(5) Pending the determination of an application under subsection (4), the Chief Inspector shall not attend before the committee to give account for the matter that is the subject of the application.
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(6) If the High Court determines that the matter concerned is one to which subsection (2) applies, the committee shall withdraw the request referred to in subsection (1), but if the High Court determines that subsection (2) does not apply, the Chief Inspector shall attend before the committee to give account for the matter.
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(7) In the performance of his or her duties under this section, the Chief Inspector shall not provide information that might facilitate the commission of an offence, prejudice a criminal investigation or prosecution or jeopardise the safety of a person.
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(8) With the permission of the Chairperson of a committee making the request under subsection (1), either—
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(a) the acting Chief Inspector, or
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(b) a member of staff of the Chief Inspector,
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may attend before the committee in place of the Chief Inspector to give an account of the general administration of the Office of the Chief Inspector, and in that case a reference in subsections (2) to (7) to the Chief Inspector shall be read as including a reference to the person attending in his or her place.
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(9) In this section, “committee” means a committee appointed by either House of the Oireachtas or jointly by both Houses of the Oireachtas, other than—
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(a) the Committee of Public Accounts, the Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann or the Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann, or
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(b) a subcommittee of a committee referred to in paragraph (a).
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