PART II.

Nominating Bodies Sub-panel Vacancies.

9. —(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 nominating committee for that panel.

(2) Every nominating body which is for the time being registered in the register of nominating bodies shall be entitled to appoint three members of the nominating 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 passing of this Act and shall thereafter maintain a register of the several nominating committees and of the members thereof respectively and such register shall be conclusive evidence of the membership of every such committee.

(4) Every register maintained under the next preceding sub-section of this section of the members of a nominating 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 in such register.

10. —(1) Every nominating body which is registered in the register of nominating bodies at the passing of this Act shall, as soon as may be after such passing, appoint three persons to be members of the nominating committee for the panel in respect of which such nominating body is so registered.

(2) Every body which becomes, after the passing of this Act, registered as a nominating body in the register of nominating bodies shall, as soon as may be after it becomes so registered, appoint three persons to be members of the nominating committee for the panel in respect of which such body is so registered.

(3) It shall be the duty of every nominating body for the time being registered in the register of nominating bodies to maintain at three the number of members appointed by it to the appropriate nominating committee, and for that purpose every such nominating body is hereby empowered and required to fill with all convenient speed every vacancy which occurs amongst the members appointed by it to such nominating committee.

(4) Every appointment and every revocation of the appointment of a member of a nominating committee by a nominating body shall—

(a) be made in writing, and

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

(c) in the case of an appointment, 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) in every case, 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) Any member of a nominating 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 such change of address in the register of the members of such nominating committee.

11. —(1) A nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies may at any time revoke any appointment made by it of a member of a nominating committee.

(2) Whenever a nominating body which has appointed members of the nominating committee for a panel ceases to be a nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of that panel, the members of the said nominating committee appointed by such nominating body shall cease to be members of that committee.

(3) A member of a nominating 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) his death, or

(b) the revocation under this section of his appointment as such member, or

(c) the nominating body by which he was appointed ceasing to be registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of the panel for which such nominating committee is maintained.

12. —Whenever the Minister has made a bye-election order in respect of a vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann which is stated in such order to be a vacancy in respect of the nominating bodies sub-panel of a particular panel, a meeting (in this Act referred to as a nominating meeting) of the nominating committee for the said panel shall be held at the place appointed in that behalf by such bye-election order and shall commence at the time similarly appointed, and the Seanad returning officer shall, not later than five days after the date of such bye-election order, send to every member of such nominating committee a notice in the prescribed form informing him of the said vacancy and of the obligation of such nominating committee to make nominations for filling such vacancy, and also informing him of the place and time so appointed as aforesaid by such bye-election order.

13. —The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every nominating meeting, that is to say:—

(a) the Seanad returning officer shall preside at the meeting and shall conduct the proceedings thereof;

(b) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the members of the nominating committee and no other person may be present at the meeting;

(c) each member of the nominating committee shall, when or as soon as may be after he enters the meeting, sign his name in a book or other record (to be provided and kept by the Seanad returning officer) of attendances at nominating meetings;

(d) the Seanad returning officer shall provide a sufficient number of the prescribed nomination forms and shall make such forms available to the members of the nominating committee;

(e) any member of the nominating committee may, at any time within one hour after the commencement of the meeting, nominate a person for nomination by such nominating committee;

(f) every such nomination shall be made on a prescribed nomination form supplied by the Seanad returning officer and shall be signed by the member making the nomination and shall be handed by him to the Seanad returning officer;

(g) every such nomination shall state the name, address, and description of the person thereby nominated and a statement of the qualifications of such person for the panel for which such nominating committee is the nominating committee;

(h) the Seanad returning officer shall reject any such nomination which appears to him not to be made and completed in accordance with this section;

(i) any such nomination may, at any time within one hour after the commencement of the meeting, be withdrawn by the member who made the same;

(j) the withdrawal of a nomination shall be effected by the member concerned endorsing on the nomination paper (which shall be handed to him for the purpose by the Seanad returning officer) a signed statement of such withdrawal;

(k) the Seanad returning officer shall make every nomination accepted by him and every withdrawal of a nomination available for the inspection of the members of the nominating committee present;

(l) if, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the meeting, more than three persons have been duly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall, at such expiration, adjourn the meeting to a convenient time and place (whether on the same or a subsequent day) for the purpose of taking a poll to determine the order in which the persons so nominated shall be deemed to have been nominated by the nominating committee;

(m) if, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the meeting, three persons and no more have been duly nominated, the meeting shall terminate at the expiration of the said hour and the Seanad returning officer shall make and sign a certificate of nominations in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this Part of this Act;

(n) if, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the meeting, no persons or less than three persons have been duly nominated, the meeting shall terminate at the expiration of the said hour and the Seanad returning officer shall report the fact and the circumstances of such termination to the Minister.

14. —When a nominating meeting has been adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll, the Seanad returning officer shall take such poll in accordance with the following provisions, that is to say:—

(a) such poll shall be taken at the time and place to which such meeting was adjourned, and shall be deemed to be a continuation of such meeting;

(b) the Seanad returning officer shall make available at the said place a suitable room for taking the poll and shall provide therein such ballot boxes, desks, and other furniture as he shall consider necessary and shall also provide a sufficient number of ballot papers;

(c) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the members of the nominating committee and no other person may be present at the taking of the poll or the counting of the votes;

(d) at the said time to which the nominating meeting was adjourned the Seanad returning officer shall open the poll and at the expiration of one hour from that time he shall close the poll;

(e) every member of the nominating committee shall be entitled to vote at the poll, whether he was or was not present at the nominating meeting before the adjournment thereof, but no such member shall be entitled to receive a ballot paper unless or until he has, either at the nominating meeting before the adjournment thereof or at the taking of the poll, signed his name in a book or other record (to be provided and kept by the Seanad returning officer) of attendances at nominating meetings;

(f) each member of the nominating committee shall be entitled to vote by one ballot paper only, but may vote by such ballot paper for one, two, or three (but not more than three) candidates;

(g) the Seanad returning officer shall take all such steps as he considers proper or expedient for preserving the secrecy of the voting at the poll;

(h) every question which shall arise at or in relation to the taking of the poll shall be decided by the Seanad returning officer and his decision on any such question shall be final and unappealable;

(i) at the close of the poll the Seanad returning officer shall count the votes and ascertain the result of the poll and shall announce such result to the members (if any) of the nominating committee then present.

15. —(1) If, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of a nominating meeting, three persons and no more have been duly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall make and sign a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of nominations) in the prescribed form stating the names, addresses, and descriptions of the said three persons in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in case of identity of surname, of their other names.

(2) If a nominating meeting is adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll, the Seanad returning officer shall, when the counting of the votes given at such poll has been completed, make and sign a certificate (in this Act also referred to as a certificate of nominations) in the prescribed form stating the names, addresses, and descriptions of the persons who were nominated at the said meeting and showing the order, as ascertained at the said poll in which they are to be deemed to have been so nominated.

(3) The Seanad returning officer shall publish in the Iris Oifigiúil every certificate of nominations made and signed by him in pursuance of this section and shall at the same time publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a notice stating the day and place appointed by the relevant bye-election order for the ruling upon nominations.

(4) A certificate of nominations made, signed and published in pursuance of this section shall be conclusive evidence of the nominations made at the nominating meeting to which such certificate relates and, if such meeting was adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll, such certificate shall also be conclusive evidence that such poll was duly and properly taken and conclusive evidence of the result of such poll.

16. —(1) Where a bye-election order relates to a nominating bodies sub-panel vacancy, the Seanad returning officer shall, at eleven o'clock in the morning on the day appointed by such bye-election order for the ruling upon nominations, attend at the place similarly appointed and then and there hold a sitting (in this Act referred to as the ruling upon nominations) at which he shall rule upon the nominations stated in the certificate of nominations and shall prepare the final statement of nominations.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every ruling upon nominations held in pursuance of this section, that is to say:—

(a) the Seanad returning officer shall produce the respective nomination papers handed to him at the nominating meeting of the several persons named in the certificate of nominations;

(b) the Seanad returning officer shall consider and rule upon the validity of the nomination paper, and the nomination purported to be made thereby, of every person named in the certificate of nominations, and shall consider and rule upon the said papers and nominations successively in the order in which the names of the persons purported to be nominated thereby are stated in the certificate of nominations;

(c) the Seanad returning officer shall reject as invalid the nomination of any person in respect of whom he rules that the nomination paper of such person or the nomination purported to be made thereby is invalid or in respect of whom he is not satisfied that such person possesses the qualifications stated in sub-section 1° of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution in respect of the panel mentioned in the relevant bye-election order;

(d) when the Seanad returning officer has ruled upon the nomination of a person, he shall, unless he rejects such nomination as invalid, enter the name of that person in a list which is in this Act referred to as the provisional list;

(e) when the names of three persons have been entered in the provisional list such list shall be complete and the Seanad returning officer shall not consider or rule upon the nominations of any persons;

(f) when the provisional list is complete, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare, in accordance with the next following sub-section of this section, and sign the final list of nominations;

(g) if, when all the nominations stated in the certificate of nominations have been ruled upon, no name of any person or the name or names of less than three persons has or have been entered in the provisional list, the proceedings at the ruling upon nominations shall terminate and the Seanad returning officer shall report the fact and the circumstances of such termination to the Minister.

(3) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the final list of nominations, that is to say:—

(a) the final list of nominations shall contain the names, addresses, and descriptions of the persons whose names are entered in the provisional list;

(b) the name, address, and description of every such person shall be stated in the final list of nominations in the like manner as it is stated in the nomination paper of such person handed to the Seanad returning officer at the nominating meeting;

(c) the final list of nominations shall also contain, in respect of every person whose name is stated therein, a statement, in such form as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper, of the qualifications in respect of the panel mentioned in the bye-election order which he determines to be in fact possessed by such person;

(d) the persons whose names are stated in the final list of nominations shall be arranged in that list in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in case of identity of surname, of their other names.

17. —(1) As soon as may be after the close of a ruling upon nominations held under this Part of this Act at which a final list of nominations was prepared and signed by the Seanad returning officer, the Seanad returning officer shall send to the Taoiseach the final list of nominations so prepared and signed by him, and thereupon the Taoiseach shall select one of the persons named in such final list of nominations to fill the vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann mentioned in the relevant bye-election order and that person shall thereupon be deemed to have been elected to fill the said vacancy.

(2) When a person has been deemed, under the foregoing sub-section of this section, to have been elected to fill the vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann mentioned in the relevant bye-election order, the Taoiseach shall cause the Clerk of Seanad Eireann to be informed of the name, address, and description of such person as stated in the final list of nominations and of the fact that such person has been elected to fill the vacancy mentioned in the relevant notice of a vacancy.

18. —(1) Whenever the Seanad returning officer reports to the Minister that a nominating meeting has terminated because no persons or less than three persons had been duly nominated thereat or that the proceedings at a ruling upon nominations held under this Part of this Act terminated because no name of any person or the name or names of less than three persons had been entered in the provisional list, the bye-election order in pursuance of which such nominating meeting or such ruling upon nominations (as the case may be) was held and all proceedings had in pursuance of such order shall become and be null and void and such order shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, never to have been made, and the Minister shall make a new bye-election order in lieu of the bye-election order so becoming null and void.

(2) A new bye-election order made under the foregoing sub-section of this section shall be a bye-election order within the meaning and for the purposes of this Act and this Act (including this section) shall apply and have effect in relation thereto, save that the time within which the Minister shall make such new bye-election order shall be whichever of the following periods later expires, that is to say, one hundred and eighty days after he receives the relevant notice of a vacancy from the Clerk of Seanad Eireann or sixty days after he receives the report mentioned in the said foregoing sub-section from the Seanad returning officer.

(3) The annulment of a bye-election order by virtue of this section shall not prejudice or affect the right of the Seanad returning officer to be paid under section 5 of the Principal Act his reasonable charges and expenses in respect of his services rendered and expenses incurred in pursuance of such bye-election order.