PART III.

The Nomination Committees.

21. —(1) There shall be formed and maintained in respect of each panel a standing committee to be known and in this Act referred to as the nomination committee for that panel.

(2) A nominating body which is for the time being registered in the register of nominating bodies shall be entitled to appoint five members of the nomination committee for the panel in respect of which such nominating body is so registered.

(3) The Seanad returning officer shall establish as soon as may be after the publication pursuant to section 15 of this Act of the register of nominating bodies, and shall thereafter maintain, a register with respect to each nomination committee stating the members thereof and each such register shall be conclusive evidence of the membership of the committee to which it relates.

(4) A register maintained under subsection (3) of this section of the members of a nomination committee shall state, in respect of every such member, his postal address as stated in his appointment or as subsequently communicated by him under this Act, and every notice required by this Act to be sent by the Seanad returning officer to any such member shall be sent by prepaid post addressed to him at his postal address as so stated.

(5) The quorum of a nomination committee shall be one-fourth of the members thereof or three members (whichever is the greater).

22. —(1) A nominating body which is registered in the register of nominating bodies on the publication of that register pursuant to section 15 of this Act shall, as soon as may be after such publication, appoint five persons to be members of the nomination committee for the panel in respect of which such body is so registered.

(2) A body which becomes, after the publication of the register of nominating bodies pursuant to section 15 of this Act, registered as a nominating body in that register shall, as soon as may be after it becomes so registered, appoint five persons to be members of the nomination committee for the panel in respect of which such body is so registered.

(3) Where a member appointed by a nominating body of a nomination committee ceases to be such member by reason of death, being adjudicated a bankrupt or convicted of an indictable offence, or ceasing to be a member of the body, the body shall as soon as conveniently may be appoint a person to fill the vacancy.

(4) An appointment of a member of a nomination committee by a nominating body shall—

(a) be made in writing, and

(b) if the nominating body is a body corporate, have the seal of the body affixed thereto in the manner and with the counter-signatures required by the constitution, articles of association, or other regulations of the body or if the nominating body is not a body corporate, be signed in the name of the body by some person having authority to sign in that name, and

(c) state the name, postal address, and description of the appointee and contain a statement, signed by the appointee, that he assents to the appointment, and

(d) be sent to the Seanad returning officer by such nominating body, and

(e) have effect as from the time at which it is received by the Seanad returning officer.

(5) Where the first appointment by a nominating body of members of a nomination committee is made at an annual meeting of the body, the body shall at that meeting appoint the day for its next annual meeting and the day appointed shall be notified to the Seanad returning officer and shall be not more than four hundred days and not less than three hundred and thirty days after the day on which the appointment is made.

(6) Where the first appointment by a nominating body of members of a nomination committee is made at a meeting which is not an annual meeting, the meeting shall be a meeting specially called for the purpose of making such appointment.

(7) The second and any subsequent appointment by a nominating body of members of a nomination committee shall be made at an annual meeting of the body, and the body shall at every such meeting appoint the day for its next annual meeting and the day appointed shall be notified to the Seanad returning officer and shall be not more than four hundred days and not less than three hundred and thirty days after the day on which the appointment is made.

(8) Any member of a nomination committee may at any time inform the Seanad returning officer in writing of a change in his postal address and thereupon the Seanad returning officer shall enter the change of address in the register of the members of the committee.

23. —(1) A member appointed by a nominating body of a nomination committee shall cease to hold office as such member on the happening of any of the following events, and in no other circumstances, that is to say:—

(a) the expiration of the day before the day of the annual meeting of the body next occurring after his appointment,

(b) his death,

(c) his being adjudicated bankrupt or convicted of an indictable offence,

(d) his ceasing to be a member of the body,

(e) the body ceasing to be a nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of the relevant panel.

(2) A member of a nomination committee ceasing to hold office as such member by reason of the expiration of the day before the day of an annual meeting of the nominating body which appointed him shall be eligible for re-appointment.