PART II

Bord Na gCapall

6. —(1) There shall, by virtue of this section, be established on the establishment day a board to be known as Bord na gCapall (in this Act referred to as the Board) to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name.

7. —(1) The functions of the Board shall be—

(a) to advise the Minister—

(i) in relation to the breeding, sale and export of horses and associated activities,

(ii) in relation to the conditions to be attached to licences,

(iii) in relation to the matters specified in paragraphs (b) to (k) of this subsection and any functions transferred to the Board under section 33 of this Act,

(b) to co-ordinate (with the consent of the organisations or groups affected) the work of organisations or groups wholly or mainly concerned with the breeding of horses or equitation or matters connected with the matters aforesaid;

(c) to establish, equip and operate or cause to be operated on its behalf a national centre or national centres for training in equitation;

(d) to consult with the relevant equestrian organisations (if requested by them) about the choice of international equestrian competitions in which to enter Irish national teams or members thereof and, where such teams or members and the competitions for which they are entered are approved of by the Board, to assist the teams, or members, as the case may be in either or both of the following ways, that is to say, the provision of money to meet, in whole or in part, the costs of entering and taking part in the competitions or the provision of horses for use by the teams or members, as the case may be, in the competitions;

(e) to encourage the holding of international equestrian competitions in the State and to assist, whether by the provision of money or otherwise, in the holding and running of such competitions;

(f) to provide for the training of persons in the giving of instruction in equitation:

(g) to co-ordinate and undertake publicity on horses;

(h) to promote the organisation of sales of horses other than thoroughbred horses;

(i) to promote and develop the export trade in horses other than thoroughbred horses;

(j) to provide for persons outside the State an information service of such kind as it considers appropriate in relation to horses;

(k) to establish and administer a scheme of apprenticeship in farriery;

(l) to undertake such other functions as may be transferred or assigned to the Board under section 33 of this Act.

(2) The Board shall have all such powers as are necessary for or incidental to the performance of its functions.

8. —(1) The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister from time to time as occasion requires but shall not exceed eleven in number.

(2) Before appointing a member of the Board, the Minister shall consult with such organisations (if any) as he thinks appropriate in relation to the appointment.

(3) The period of office of a member of the Board shall be such period, not exceeding five years, as the Minister may determine when appointing him.

(4) A member of the Board whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(5) A member of the Board may at any time resign his office as member by letter sent to the Minister, and the resignation shall take effect on receipt of the letter.

(6) Where a member of the Board or of a committee established by the Board is nominated either as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas or as a member of Seanad Éireann, he shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board or of the committee, as the case may be.

(7) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein shall, while so entitled, be disqualified from becoming a member of the Board or of a committee established by the Board.

(8) A member of the Board shall hold office on such terms as the Minister may determine from time to time.

(9) A member of the Board or of any committee established by the Board shall be paid, out of funds at the disposal of the Board, such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, considers reasonable.

(10) A member of the Board shall be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office if he is adjudicated a bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with creditors or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to suffer imprisonment or penal servitude or ceases to be ordinarily resident in the State.

(11) The Minister may at any time remove a member of the Board from office.

9. —(1) The Minister may from time to time as occasion requires appoint a member of the Board to be chairman thereof.

(2) The chairman of the Board may at any time resign his office as chairman by letter sent to the Minister, and the resignation shall, unless it is previously withdrawn in writing, take effect at the commencement of the meeting of the Board held next after the Board has been informed by the Minister of the resignation.

(3) Where the chairman of the Board ceases during his term of office as chairman to be a member of the Board, he shall also then cease to be chairman of the Board.

10. —(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 the chairman of the Board or some other member thereof authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer 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 (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with this section) of the Board shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

11. —A member of the Board who has—

(a) any interest in any company with which the Board proposes to make any contract, or

(b) any interest in any contract which the Board proposes to make,

shall disclose to the Board the fact of the interest and the nature thereof, and shall take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Board relating to the contract, and the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board.

12. —(1) The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the due fulfilment of its functions.

(2) The first meeting of the Board shall be held on or as soon as conveniently may be after the establishment day.

(3) At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairman of the Board shall, if present, be chairman of the meeting,

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the Board is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

(4) Every question at a meeting of the Board 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.

(5) The Board may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among its members.

(6) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall regulate its procedure by rules or otherwise.

(7) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall, unless the Minister otherwise directs, be five.

13. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, there may, subject to such conditions, if any, as the Minister thinks proper, be paid to the Board in each financial year out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas a grant or grants of such amount or amounts as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and after consultation with the Board in relation to its programme of expenditure for that year, may fix.

(2) In fixing the amount of a grant under this section in respect of any year regard shall be had to the amount of the Board's income (excluding any income under this section or section 14 (c) of this Act) in that year, and, if the amount of the income exceeds such amount as may be determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, the amount of the grant shall be increased by such amount (if any) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may fix.

14. —For the purpose of the due performance of its functions the Board may—

(a) provide, equip and maintain offices and other premises,

(b) purchase, take or let on lease or sell horses,

(c) with the consent of the Minister, borrow money for capital or current purposes.

15. —The funds of the Board may be used—

(a) for the payment of expenses incurred by it in the performance of its functions, and

(b) for the making of payments, grants or loans for any purpose that, in the opinion of the Board, is conducive to the promotion and development of the export of horses (excluding thoroughbred horses).

16. —The Board may invest any of its funds (not being funds to which section 24 (3) of this Act applies) in any manner in which a trustee is empowered by law to invest trust funds.

17. —(1) The Board may acquire by agreement any land or any easement, wayleave or other right in respect of land.

(2) The Board may dispose of any land vested in it which it no longer requires.

18. —(1) The Board shall keep in such form as may be approved by the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, all proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by it, including an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet, and, in particular, shall keep in such form as aforesaid all such special accounts as the Minister, on his own motion, or at the request of the Minister for Finance, shall from time to time direct.

(2) Accounts kept in pursuance of this section shall be submitted annually by the Board to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit and, immediately after the audit, a copy of the income and expenditure account and of the balance sheet and of such other (if any) of the accounts kept pursuant to subsection (1) of this section as the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, may direct and a copy of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the accounts shall be presented to the Minister who shall cause copies thereof to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

19. —(1) The Board shall within ninety days after the end of each accounting period of the Board or such longer time as the Minister shall in any particular case allow, make a report to the Minister of its proceedings under this Act during the period, and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(2) The Board shall supply the Minister with such information regarding the performance of its functions as he may from time to time require.

20. —(1) The Board shall appoint such and so many persons to be officers and servants of the Board as the Board from time to time thinks proper.

(2) An officer or servant of the Board shall hold his office or employment on such terms and conditions as the Board from time to time determines.

(3) There shall be paid by the Board to its officers and servants out of moneys at its disposal such remuneration and allowances as the Board, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, from time to time determines.

(4) The Board may at any time remove any officer or servant of the Board from being its officer or servant.

21. —The Board may perform any of its functions through or by any of its officers or servants duly authorised by the Board in that behalf.

22. —(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the establishment day, the Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister for Finance for his approval, a contributory scheme or contributory schemes for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement or death to or in respect of such wholetime officers or wholetime servants of the Board as it may think fit.

(2) The Board may at any time, prepare and submit to the Minister for Finance, a scheme amending a scheme under this section.

(3) A scheme submitted to the Minister for Finance under this section shall, if approved of by the Minister for Finance, be carried out by the Board in accordance with its terms.

(4) A scheme submitted and approved of under subsection (1) of this section shall fix the time and conditions of retirement for all persons to whom pensions, gratuities or other allowances are payable under the scheme, and different times and conditions may be fixed in respect of different classes of persons.

(5) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any pension, gratuity or other allowance payable in pursuance of a scheme under this section, such dispute shall be submitted to the Minister for Finance whose decision shall be final.

(6) Every scheme submitted and approved of under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is approved of and if either House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, passes a resolution annulling the scheme, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

23. —(1) Where a person who is either an officer or a servant in the employment of the Board becomes a member of either House of the Oireachtas—

(a) he shall during the period (in this section referred to as the secondment period) commencing upon his becoming entitled under the Standing Orders of that House to sit therein and ending either when he ceases to be a member of that House or, if it should sooner happen, upon his resignation or retirement from such employment or upon the termination of such employment by the Board, stand seconded from such employment,

(b) he shall not be paid by, or entitled to receive from, the Board any remuneration or allowances in respect of the secondment period,

(c) he shall not be entitled to reckon the whole or any part of the secondment period for any superannuation benefits payable under this Act.

(2) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein shall, while so entitled, be disqualified from becoming an officer or servant of the Board.

24. —(1) The Board may accept gifts of money, land or other property upon such trusts and conditions, if any, as may be specified by the donor.

(2) The Board shall not accept a gift if the conditions attached to the acceptance by the donor are inconsistent with the functions of the Board.

(3) Any funds of the Board, being a gift or the proceeds of a gift to it, may, subject to any terms or conditions of the gift, be invested by the Board in any manner in which a trustee is empowered by law to invest trust funds.

25. —(1) The Board may from time to time establish committees to perform such (if any) of the functions of the Board as, in the opinion of the Board, may be better or more conveniently performed by a committee, and are assigned to a committee by the Board.

(2) A committee established under this section may, if the Board thinks fit, include in its membership persons who are not members of the Board.

(3) The appointment of a person to act as a member of a committee established under this section shall be subject to such conditions (including conditions in relation to the term and tenure of office of the member) as the Board may think fit to impose when making the appointment.

(4) A member of a committee established under this section may be removed from office at any time by the Board.

(5) The Board may at any time dissolve a committee appointed under this section.

(6) The acts of a committee established under this section shall be subject to confirmation by the Board unless the Board dispenses with the necessity for such confirmation.

(7) The Board may regulate the procedure of committees established under this section, but, subject to any such regulation, committees established under this section may regulate their own procedure.