First Previous (PART I Preliminary) Next (PART III Transitional Provisions)

19 1993

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ACT, 1993

PART II

Forfás and Agencies

Establishment of Forfás, Forbairt and IDA.

5. —(1) There shall stand established, on such day as the Minister may by order appoint (“the establishment day”), a body to be known as Forfás and two agencies of Forfás, to be known respectively as Forbairt and the Industrial Development Agency (Ireland) (“IDA”), to carry out the functions assigned to them by this Act.

(2) The First and Second Schedules shall apply for the purposes of this section.

Functions of Forfás.

6. —(1) The functions of Forfás shall be—

(a) to advise the Minister on matters relating to the development of industry in the State,

(b) to advise on the development and co-ordination of policy for Forbairt, IDA, An Bord Tráchtála and such other bodies as the Minister may designate,

(c) to encourage the development of industry and technology in the State,

(d) to encourage the establishment and development in the State of industrial undertakings from outside the State, and

(e) to advise and co-ordinate Forbairt and IDA in relation to their functions.

(2) Forfás and each Agency shall comply with such general directives relating to the policy to be followed by it in the exercise of its functions as may be given by the Minister.

Functions of Forbairt.

7. —The functions of Forbairt shall be, as an agency of Forfás—

(a) to develop industry in the State,

(b) to strengthen the technological base and the capacity of industry to innovate,

(c) to provide services which support such development,

(d) to make investments in and provide supports to industrial undertakings which comply with the requirements of the enactments for the time being in force,

(e) to administer such schemes, grants and other financial facilities requiring the disbursement of European Community Funds as may from time to time be authorised by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, and

(f) to carry out such other functions as may from time to time be assigned to it by Forfás with the consent of the Minister.

Functions of IDA.

8. —The functions of IDA shall be, as an agency of Forfás—

(a) to promote the establishment and development, in the State, of industrial undertakings from outside the State,

(b) to make investments in and provide supports to industrial undertakings which comply with the requirements of the enactments for the time being in force,

(c) to administer such schemes, grants and other financial facilities requiring the disbursement of European Community Funds as may from time to time be authorised by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, and

(d) to carry out such other functions as may from time to time be assigned to it by Forfás with the consent of the Minister.

Functions formerly exercised by the Industrial Development Authority and Eolas.

9. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), the powers and functions of the Industrial Development Authority, as specified in the Act of 1986, and the powers and functions of Eolas, as specified in the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961 and in the Act of 1987, shall be vested in Forfás and may, to such an extent and in accordance with such directions as the Minister may from time to time determine, be assigned to and exercised by Forbairt or IDA as the case may be.

(2) The powers and functions of the Industrial Development Authority conferred on it by Part III of the Act of 1986 shall be assigned to, and exercised by, Forbairt or IDA to such an extent and in accordance with such directions as Forfás, with the concurrence of the Minister, may from time to time determine.

(3) For the purposes of this section, references in the Act of 1986 and in the Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited (Amendment) Act, 1970 to “the Authority” and in the Act of 1987 to “the Agency” shall be construed as references to Forfás and each Agency, or to any of them, as may be appropriate.

Delegation of functions.

10. —(1) Any function exercised by Forfás and either Agency may, without prejudice to their general responsibilities under this Act, be performed through or by any member of staff duly authorised in that behalf.

(2) Forfás and either Agency may, as it thinks proper, from time to time constitute committees or other bodies (including regional bodies) for the purposes of this section and dissolve any such body.

(3) Membership of a committee or other body may include persons who are not members of Forfás or its staff or of either Agency.

Grants to Forfás and the Agencies.

11. —(1) There may be paid by the Minister to Forfás and each Agency, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, grants of such amounts as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may sanction—

(a) to enable Forfás and each Agency to meet its administration and general expenses, and

(b) to discharge its obligations and liabilities.

(2) The aggregate amount of grants made by the Minister to Forfás and the Agencies under subsection (1) (b) (other than grants to which section 14 (3) of the Act of 1986 applies) shall not exceed £750,000,000.

(3) The aggregate amount of grants made by Forfás and the Agencies and of payments made under sections 16 and 31 of the Act of 1986 or the corresponding provisions of any repealed enactment after the commencement of this section shall not exceed the aggregate limits specified in subsection (2).

Industrial incentives.

12. —(1) Without the prior permission of the Government, the total amount of money granted to a particular industrial undertaking under any section referred to in section 34 of the Act of 1986 shall not exceed in the aggregate the higher of—

(a) £2,500,000, or

(b) £2,500,000 in excess of the aggregate amount of grants for which the prior permission of the Government has previously been obtained.

(2) The Agencies may make grants on such terms and conditions as are specified in the Act of 1986 towards the employment of persons in a service industry.

Review of industrial performance and policy.

13. —The Minister shall, within three years from the passing of this Act, and in every third year thereafter, prepare a review of national industrial performance in respect of the previous three years and of national industrial policy and shall cause the review and the conclusions arising therefrom to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.