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27 2004

Residential Tenancies Act 2004

Chapter 7

Supplemental provisions with regard to Board's administration and management

Indemnification of certain persons.

168. —(1) Where the Board is satisfied that a person to whom this section applies has discharged the functions appropriate to that person in relation to the functions of the Board in good faith, it shall indemnify that person against all actions or claims however they arise in respect of the discharge by that person of those functions.

(2) This section applies to—

(a) a member of the Board,

(b) a member of a committee of the Board,

(c) a member of staff of the Board,

(d) a mediator or adjudicator,

(e) an adviser or consultant to the Board engaged under section 166 , and

(f) a person whose services are provided to the Board under section 167 .

Membership of either House of the Oireachtas, etc.

169. —(1) Where a member of the Board or the Dispute Resolution Committee or a member of the staff of the Board—

(a) accepts nomination as a member of Seanad Éireann,

(b) is elected to either House of the Oireachtas or to the European Parliament,

(c) is regarded, pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 , as having been elected to that Parliament, or

(d) becomes a member of a local authority,

he or she shall thereupon—

(i) in the case of a member of the Board or the Dispute Resolution Committee, cease to be a member of the Board or that Committee,

(ii) in the case of a member of the staff of the Board, stand seconded from employment by the Board for the period specified in subsection (2).

(2) A person who stands seconded under subsection (1)(ii) shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, the Board any remuneration in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election or his or her membership of the local authority or the date on which he or she is so regarded as having been elected, as the case may be, and ending on the date on which he or she ceases to be a member of either such House or such Parliament or such local authority.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), that subsection shall be construed as prohibiting, among other things, the reckoning of a period mentioned in that subsection as service with the Board for the purposes of any superannuation benefits.

(4) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein or who is a representative in the European Parliament or a member of a local authority shall, while he or she is so entitled or is such a representative or member, be disqualified from becoming a member of the Board or the Dispute Resolution Committee or a member of the staff of the Board.

Disclosure of interests.

170. —(1) Where a member of the Board, a member of a committee of the Board, a member of the staff of the Board or a consultant or adviser engaged under section 166 has a pecuniary interest or other beneficial interest in, or material to, any matter which falls to be considered by the Board or a committee, he or she shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) he or she shall disclose to the Board the fact of such interest and the nature of the interest in advance of any consideration of the matter;

(b) he or she shall neither influence nor seek to influence a decision in relation to the matter;

(c) he or she shall take no part in any consideration of the matter;

(d) if he or she is a member of the Board or a committee or both or a member of the staff of the Board, he or she shall withdraw from any meeting concerned for so long as the matter is being discussed or considered and shall not vote or otherwise act as such Board or committee member or member of staff in relation to the matter.

(2) For the purposes of this section, but without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person shall be regarded as having a beneficial interest in, or material to, a matter referred to in that subsection if—

(a) the person or any member of his or her household, or any nominee of him or her or of his or her household, is a member of a company or any other body which has a beneficial interest in, or material to, such a matter,

(b) the person or any member of his or her household is in partnership with or is in the employment of a person who has a beneficial interest in, or material to, such a matter,

(c) the person or any member of his or her household is a party to any arrangement or agreement (whether or not enforceable) concerning property to which such a matter relates, or

(d) any member of his or her household has a beneficial interest in, or material to, such a matter.

(3) A person shall not be regarded as having a beneficial interest in, or material to, any matter by reason only of an interest of the person or of any company or of any other body or person mentioned in subsection (2) which is so remote or insignificant that it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to influence a person in considering, discussing or voting on any question with respect to the matter, or in performing any function in relation to that matter.

Section 170 : supplemental provisions.

171. —(1) Where at a meeting or proceeding of the Board or a committee of the Board a question arises as to whether or not a course of conduct, if pursued by a person, would constitute a failure by the person to comply with the requirements of section 170 , then, if the meeting or proceeding is of a committee, it shall be adjourned until the question has been referred to and determined by the Board, and if the meeting is of the Board, the question shall be determined by the Board, whose decision in all cases shall be final, and particulars of the determination shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board's meeting.

(2) Where a disclosure is made under section 170 , the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting concerned and, for so long as the matter to which the disclosure relates is being considered or discussed by the meeting, the person by whom the disclosure is made, where he or she is a member of the Board, shall not be counted in the quorum for the meeting unless the Board otherwise determines.

(3) A person who contravenes section 170 is guilty of an offence.

(4) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (3), it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he or she did not know and had no reason to believe that a matter in which, or in relation to which, he or she had a beneficial interest had fallen to be considered by him or her, by the Board or by a committee of the Board or that the beneficial interest to which the alleged offence relates was one in relation to which a requirement of section 170 applied.

(5) A member of the Board, or of a committee of the Board, if convicted of an offence under subsection (3) shall, on such conviction, cease to be and be disqualified from being such a member.

Disclosure of information.

172. —(1) Save as otherwise provided by law and subject to subsection (3), a person shall not, other than with the consent of the Board, disclose confidential information obtained by him or her while performing (or as a result of having performed) functions as—

(a) a member of the Board,

(b) a member of the staff of the Board,

(c) a member of a committee of the Board,

(d) an adviser or consultant to the Board engaged under section 166 .

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prohibit the disclosure of information by means of a report made to the Board or made by, or on behalf of, the Board to the Minister.

(4) In this section “confidential information” includes—

(a) information that is expressed by the Board or a committee of the Board, as the case may be, to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description,

(b) proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the Board by contractors, consultants or any other person,

(c) information the disclosure of which is prohibited by virtue of section 128 (4).

(5) A member of the Board or of a committee of the Board, if convicted of an offence under subsection (2) shall, on such conviction, cease to be and be disqualified from being such a member.

Seal of Board.

173. —(1) The Board shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal.

(2) The seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of—

(a) the chairperson of the Board or another member of the Board authorised by the Board to act in that behalf, and

(b) the Director or a member of the staff of the Board authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Board and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the seal of the Board (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with subsection (2)) shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.