Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) Regulations 2016.

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2016
• Citation: IR SI 599/2016

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 13th December, 2016.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 2(1)(c) of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act 1962 (No. 32 of 1962) (section 2 having been replaced by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1992 (No. 3 of 1992), and paragraph (c) having been inserted by the Oireachtas (Miscellaneous Provisions) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1996 (No. 39 of 1996)), and by section 10(5) and (13) (inserted by section 2 of the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014 (No. 6 of 2014)) of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938 (No. 38 of 1938) and by section 4(3) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 (No. 28 of 2003) as well as by the amendment of Schedule 1 to that Act (as inserted by section 3 of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012 (No. 50 of 2012)) by section 6 of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Act 2015 (No. 53 of 2015), hereby makes the following regulations:

Introduction and General

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Secretarial Facilities) Regulations 2016.

2. In these Regulations—

“Commission” means the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission established by section 3 of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 , and, where the context requires, also includes the Houses of the Oireachtas Service described in section 2(1) of that Act (as inserted by section 2 (b) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Act 2009 (No. 44 of 2009));

“Group” means a body of members of the relevant House of the Oireachtas that stands recognized as a Group in accordance with the Standing Orders of that House except where any constituent element of the Group is a qualifying party;

“independent member” means a member of either House of the Oireachtas who is not a member of a qualifying party;

“information systems facilities” are those facilities (including equipment) provision of which is contemplated by Regulation 8;

“Leinster House” includes any office premises provided by the State in the vicinity of Leinster House for use by members of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann;

“Ministerial Office” means the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, a Minister of the Government, or a Minister of State;

“Parliamentary Office” means the Chairman of Dáil Éireann, the Deputy Chairman of Dáil Éireann, the Chairman of Seanad Éireann, or the Deputy Chairman of Seanad Éireann;

“pensions administrator” means the Minister of the Government, or the person prescribed pursuant to statute by such a Minister, or the trustees who has or have charge of the pension arrangements referred to in Regulation 9(1)(e);

“special secretarial allowance” means the special secretarial allowance provided for by section 2(2A) and (2B) (as inserted by section 16 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 5 of 1998)) of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act 1962 and any regulations made in furtherance of those subsections.

Personnel — Members

3. (1) Subject to Regulation 4, each member of Dáil Éireann, other than a member who holds a Ministerial Office or a Parliamentary Office, is entitled to—

(a) standard secretarial facilities consisting of either one secretarial assistant working full-time or such number of secretarial assistants working part-time as are equivalent to one secretarial assistant working full-time, and

(b) additional secretarial facilities consisting of one of the following—

(i) one parliamentary assistant working full-time or such number of parliamentary assistants working part-time as are equivalent to one parliamentary assistant working full-time, or

(ii) in cases which the Commission considers exceptional, and with the consent of the Commission, one additional secretarial assistant working full-time.

(2) The Commission may, upon the written application of a member of Dáil Éireann, and with the consent of the Commission—

(a) in cases in which the Commission is satisfied that the grant of the application is warranted by reason of the member’s disability, or

(b) where the member has been appointed by a Group as its co-ordinator,

provide the member in question with additional secretarial facilities up to the equivalent of one secretarial assistant working full-time subject to such conditions as the Commission directs.

4. (1) A member referred to in Regulation 3(1) is entitled to additional secretarial facilities referred to in that paragraph of Regulation 3 only where he or she opts in writing as provided for in paragraph (2) of this Regulation to exercise the entitlement and, subject to that paragraph, does so in the manner and subject to the conditions that the Commission directs from time to time.

(2) Unless the Commission in cases which the Commission considers exceptional permits that exercise on some other occasion—

(a) a member, if he or she wishes to exercise the option referred to in paragraph (1)—

(i) must, subject to clause (ii), do so as soon as practicable after the general election for the 32nd Dáil Éireann,

(ii) may, if he or she did not exercise that option at the time contemplated by clause (i), do so on the first anniversary of that general election,

(b) a member, if he or she has exercised the option referred to in paragraph (1) at the time contemplated by sub-paragraph (a)(i) of this paragraph (2), may notify the Commission in writing at any time following that exercise that he or she wishes to cease to exercise that option, but only if the minimum notice that his or her employee affected by the decision is entitled to by statute would expire not later than the first anniversary of that exercise or at some sooner date.

5. (1) Subject to Regulation 6, each member of Seanad Éireann, other than a member who holds a Ministerial Office or a Parliamentary Office, is entitled to—

(a) standard secretarial facilities consisting of either one secretarial assistant working half-time or such number of secretarial assistants working less than half-time as are equivalent to one secretarial assistant working half-time, and

(b) additional secretarial facilities consisting of one secretarial assistant working half-time or such number of secretarial assistants working less than half-time as are equivalent to one secretarial assistant working half-time.

(2) The Commission may, upon the written application of a member of Seanad Éireann, and with the consent of the Commission—

(a) in cases in which the Commission is satisfied that the grant of the application is warranted by reason of the member’s disability, or

(b) where the member has been appointed by a Group as its co-ordinator,

provide the member in question with additional secretarial facilities up to the equivalent of one secretarial assistant working full-time subject to such conditions as the Commission directs.

6. (1) Any person providing additional secretarial facilities under Regulation 5(1)(b) may be the same person as the secretarial assistant providing standard secretarial facilities under Regulation 5(1)(a).

(2) A member referred to in Regulation 5(1) is entitled to additional secretarial facilities referred to in that paragraph of Regulation 5 only where he or she opts in writing as provided for in paragraph (3) of this Regulation to exercise the entitlement and, subject to that paragraph, does so in the manner and subject to the conditions that the Commission directs from time to time.

(3) Unless the Commission in cases which the Commission considers exceptional permits that exercise on some other occasion—

(a) a member, if he or she wishes to exercise the option referred to in paragraph (2)—

(i) must, subject to clause (ii), do so as soon as practicable after the general election for the 25th Seanad Éireann,

(ii) may, if he or she did not exercise that option at the time contemplated by clause (i), do so on the first anniversary of that general election,

(b) a member, if he or she has exercised the option referred to in paragraph (2) at the time contemplated by sub-paragraph (a)(i) of this paragraph (3), may notify the Commission in writing at any time following that exercise that he or she wishes to cease to exercise that option, but only if the minimum notice that his or her employee affected by the decision is entitled to by statute would expire not later than the first anniversary of that exercise or at some sooner date.

7. (1)(a) Each of the following—

(A) the holder of a Ministerial Office,

(B) the Chairman of Dáil Éireann, and

(C) the Deputy Chairman of Dáil Éireann,

is entitled to—

(i) one secretarial assistant working full-time or such number of secretarial assistants working part-time as are equivalent to one secretarial assistant working full-time, and

(ii) either—

(I) one parliamentary assistant working full-time or such number of parliamentary assistants working part-time as are equivalent to one parliamentary assistant working full-time, or

(II) in cases which the Commission considers exceptional, and with the consent of the Commission, one additional secretarial assistant working full-time.

(b)(i) That any of the persons listed in sub-paragraph (a)(A), (B), and (C) avails of the special secretarial allowance does not limit that person’s entitlements provided for in sub-paragraph (a)(ii).

(ii) Where any of the persons listed in sub-paragraph (a)(A), (B), and (C) does not avail of the entitlements provided for in sub-paragraph (a)(ii), he or she may not avail of the special secretarial allowance in an amount greater than if he or she had availed of those entitlements.

(2) The...