Labour Services Act, 1987
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SCHEDULE An Foras | ||
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Part I Membership and Procedure of An Foras | ||
1. An Foras shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land or of any other property. | ||
2. (1) An Foras shall consist of a chairman, and 16 ordinary members, who shall be appointed to An Foras by the Minister. | ||
(2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1) and paragraph 7, until the appointment as An Foras employees' members of An Foras of the persons elected in accordance with Part II of this Schedule in the first election held thereunder, An Foras shall consist of a chairman and 14 ordinary members and its membership shall not include any An Foras employees' member. | ||
3. The chairman of An Foras may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister. | ||
4. The Minister may at any time remove the chairman of An Foras from office. | ||
5. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the chairman shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine. | ||
6. The chairman of An Foras shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of An Foras, such remuneration and allowances for expenses incurred by him as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine. | ||
7. (1) Of the ordinary members of An Foras, 4 shall be trade unions' members, 4 shall be employers' members, one shall be an educational member, one shall be a social welfare member, one shall be a youth member, 2 shall be An Foras employees' members, one shall be a representative of the Minister for Finance and 2 shall be representatives of the Minister. | ||
(2) The trade unions' members of An Foras shall be the persons nominated for appointment thereto by such organisation that the Minister considers to be representative of trade unions of workers as the Minister may determine. | ||
(3) The employers' members of An Foras shall be the persons nominated for appointment thereto by such organisation or organisations that the Minister considers to be representative of employers as the Minister may determine. | ||
(4) The educational member of An Foras shall be such person whom the Minister considers to be representative of educational interests as the Minister may determine after consultation with the Minister for Education. | ||
(5) The social welfare member of An Foras shall be such person whom the Minister considers to be representative of social welfare interests as the Minister may determine after consultation with the Minister for Social Welfare. | ||
(6) The youth member of An Foras shall be nominated for appointment thereto by such organisation as the Minister considers to be representative of youth as the Minister may determine after consultation with such organisation or organisations as the Minister considers appropriate. | ||
(7) (a) Subject to clause (b), An Foras employees' members of An Foras shall be such persons as are elected in accordance with Part II of this Schedule. | ||
(b) (i) If an An Foras employees' member of An Foras dies, resigns or leaves the employment of An Foras or becomes disqualified for or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of An Foras to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned and the person so appointed shall be the next eligible candidate, if any, on the voting list under paragraph 8 of the said Part II . | ||
(ii) When two or more candidates are credited with an equal number of votes in the voting list aforesaid, the Minister shall select one of them by lot. | ||
(iii) A person appointed to be a member of An Foras by virtue of this clause shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member occasioning the vacancy he is appointed to fill. | ||
(c) A member of An For as appointed by virtue of clause (b) shall be eligible for nomination as a candidate, and for election, at an election for the purposes of this sub-paragraph. | ||
(8) The member of An Foras representing the Minister for Finance shall be such officer of the Minister for Finance as the Minister for Finance may determine. | ||
(9) The members of An Foras representing the Minister shall be, respectively, such officer of the Minister as the Minister may determine and such other person as the Minister may determine. | ||
(10) (a) If an ordinary member of An Foras (other than an An Foras employees' member of An Foras) dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of An Foras to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned and the person so appointed shall be appointed in the same manner as the member of An Foras who occasioned the casual vacancy. | ||
(b) A person appointed to be a member of An Foras by virtue of this subparagraph shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member occasioning the vacancy he is appointed to fill and shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of An Foras. | ||
8. Each member of An Foras shall be a part-time member of An Foras and, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, each ordinary member of An Foras shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine. | ||
9. An ordinary member of An Foras whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of An Foras or for election or re-election for such re-appointment, as may be appropriate. | ||
10. The Minister may at any time remove an ordinary member of An Foras from office. | ||
11. An ordinary member of An Foras may resign his office as a member by letter addressed to the Minister. | ||
12. A member of An Foras shall be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office if he is adjudged bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with creditors or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to a term of imprisonment or penal servitude or ceases to be ordinarily resident in the State. | ||
13. Each ordinary member of An Foras shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of An Foras, such remuneration (if any) and allowances for expenses incurred by him (if any) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may sanction. | ||
14. An Foras shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions. | ||
15. The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of An Foras. | ||
16. The quorum for a meeting of An Foras shall be 9. | ||
17. At a meeting of An Foras— | ||
(a) the chairman of An Foras shall, if present, be the chairman of the meeting, | ||
(b) if and so long as the chairman of An Foras is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of An Foras who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. | ||
18. The chairman of An Foras, and each ordinary member of An Foras, present at a meeting thereof shall have a vote. | ||
19. Every question at a meeting of An Foras 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 or casting vote. | ||
20. An Foras may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members. | ||
21. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, An Foras shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business of An Foras. | ||
22. An Foras shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal. | ||
23. The seal of An Foras shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman of An Foras or some other member thereof authorised by An Foras to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of An Foras authorised by An Foras to act in that behalf. | ||
24. Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of An Foras and every document purporting to be an instrument made by An Foras and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with paragraph 23) of An Foras shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown. | ||
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Part II Election of An Foras Employees' Members of An Foras | ||
1. (1) The Secretary of An Foras (or a person selected by him after consultation with any recognised trade unions or staff associations concerned) shall be the returning officer for each election of An Foras employees' members of An Foras. | ||
(2) The returning officer shall not be entitled to be nominated as, or to nominate, act as agent for or promote the interests of, a candidate at an election. | ||
(3) The returning officer may authorise any person to exercise designated functions on his behalf and subparagraph (2) shall apply to any such person. | ||
2. (1) A poll shall be conducted where the number of candidates exceeds the number of seats to be filled. | ||
(2) Voting shall be by secret ballot and on the basis of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. | ||
(3) Presiding officers at a poll and polling clerks shall be appointed by the returning officer. | ||
(4) An election shall be held in accordance with arrangements made by the returning officer. | ||
(5) The returning officer shall be required to give due notice of those arrangements to the electorate and to designate premises as an election office. | ||
(6) All arrangements for an election shall be subject to the consent of the Minister. | ||
3. (1) The returning officer shall, in relation to an election, after consultation with any recognised trade unions and staff associations concerned— | ||
(a) fix the day (in this Part referred to subsequently as “the nomination day”) on which persons proposing to be candidates at the election are required to be nominated as such candidates, and | ||
(b) give notice of the election to the electorate not later than 10 weeks before that day. | ||
The nomination day for the first election shall be fixed so as to enable the election to take place as soon as may be after the establishment day. | ||
(2) The nomination day shall be not earlier than 6 weeks after the day on which eligibility of voters and candidates is determined in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 12, respectively. | ||
4. The returning officer may declare each candidate elected if the number of candidates standing duly nominated does not exceed the number of seats to be filled. | ||
5. (1) The returning officer may take a preliminary poll, at the request of one or more recognised trade unions or staff associations representing at least 15 per cent. of the electorate, to ascertain whether or not a majority of the electorate is in favour of proceeding with the election. | ||
(2) The preliminary poll shall be undertaken in accordance with arrangements made by the returning officer and duly notified to the electorate. | ||
(3) If a majority at the preliminary poll opposes the election, the holding of the election shall be deferred for 4 years. | ||
(4) The arrangements for a preliminary poll shall be subject to the consent of the Minister. | ||
6. If the nomination of candidates or any poll is interrupted or cannot be proceeded with, the returning officer may adjourn the nomination or poll for such period as he considers appropriate to enable him, on its expiration, to proceed with or complete the nomination or poll. | ||
7. On receipt of a notification from the returning officer of the names of candidates elected or declared to be elected under paragraph 4, the Minister shall, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Part I of this Schedule, appoint each of the candidates as an An Foras employees' member of An Foras. | ||
8. The returning officer shall place on a voting list the remaining candidates in order of the number of votes credited to each at the last count in which he was involved. | ||
9. An Foras shall bear the cost of holding an election except costs incurred by candidates expressly on their own behalf. | ||
10. Every employee of An Foras who, on such day as may be specified by the returning officer in relation to an election and on the day on which the poll at that election is taken— | ||
(a) is not less than 18 years of age, and | ||
(b) has been an employee of An Foras for a continuous period of not less than one year, and | ||
(c) works not less than 18 hours a week for An Foras | ||
shall be entitled to vote at the election or preliminary poll. | ||
11. (1) Every employee of An Foras who, on the day specified in relation to an election by the returning officer under paragraph 10, is not less than 18 years of age and has been an employee of An Foras for a continuous period of not less than 3 years and works not less than 18 hours a week for An Foras shall be eligible to be nominated as a candidate at the election. | ||
(2) Nominations shall be made in the manner prescribed by the returning officer. | ||
(3) A candidate may be nominated by a recognised trade union orstaff association or jointly by two or more such bodies but no such body shall be entitled both to nominate one or more candidates of its own accord and to nominate one or more candidates jointly with another such body or bodies. | ||
(4) The returning officer shall rule on the validity of nominations. His decision shall be final. | ||
12. Prior service (for a continuous period ending on the day of his transfer by section 7 to the staff of An Foras) as a member of the staff of An Chomhairle or the Agency or as an officer of the Minister of persons so transferred shall be reckonable as service with An Foras for the purposes of paragraphs 10 and 11. | ||
13. The returning officer shall prepare and maintain a list of eligible voters and candidates. | ||
14. The returning officer shall prepare and maintain a list of recognised trade unions and staff associations for the purposes of this Part. |