PART II

European System of Central Banks and European Central Bank

3. — Section 5 of the Act of 1942 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) Subject to the provisions of section 5A (as inserted by the Central Bank Act, 1998) of this Act, the functions, powers and duties of the Bank shall be exercised and performed by the Board of Directors for and in the name of the Bank.”.

4. —The Act of 1942 is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 5 :

“Performance by Bank of European System of Central Banks' functions.

5A.—(1) The Bank shall perform any function or duty or exercise any power required by or under the provisions of the Treaty or the Statute.

(2) With effect from the date of the establishment of the European System of Central Banks, sole authority and responsibility for the performance of any function or duty or the exercise of any power conferred or imposed upon the Bank by or under the Treaty or the Statute shall be vested in the Governor.

(3) Subject to the requirements of the Treaty and the Statute, the Governor shall keep the Board informed of, and may discuss with the Board, the discharge by the Governor of the functions, duties and powers vested in the Governor under this section.

(4) Whenever the Governor is unable, by reason of absence, ill-health or any other cause to discharge the functions, duties and powers referred to in this section, or in the case of the office of the Governor becoming vacant, the authority and responsibility vested in the Governor under subsection (2) of this section shall, during such inability or vacancy, be vested in the Director General of the Bank, who shall, for the period of such inability or vacancy, exercise and perform the functions, duties and powers vested in the Governor under this section.

(5) In this Act—

‘the Treaty’ means the Treaty establishing the European Community done at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957 (as amended by the Treaty on European Union done at Maastricht on the 7th day of February, 1992);

‘the Statute’ means the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank as set out in Protocol (No. 3) (annexed by the Treaty on European Union done at Maastricht on the 7th day of February, 1992) to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community done at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957.”.

5 .—The Act of 1942 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 6 :

“6.—(1) In discharging its functions as part of the European System of Central Banks, the primary objective of the Bank shall be to maintain price stability, and without prejudice to the generality of the aforesaid, the Bank may perform such functions and exercise such powers and carry out such duties as are conferred or imposed on it by the Treaty, the Statute or any Act of the Oireachtas or instrument made thereunder.

(2) In addition to the objective referred to in subsection (1) of this section, the objectives of the Bank shall include contributing to the stability of the financial system, promoting the efficient and effective operation of payment and settlement systems and discharging such other functions, duties and powers as are conferred or imposed on it by the Treaty, the Statute or any Act of the Oireachtas or instrument made thereunder.

(3) Without prejudice to the functions, powers and duties vested in the Bank immediately before the appointed day, the Bank shall have the general function and duty of taking (within the limit of the powers for the time being vested in it and, where appropriate, having regard to the provisions of the Treaty and the Statute) such steps as the Board may from time to time deem appropriate and advisable towards the discharge of any functions, powers and duties vested by law in the Board.

(4) The Minister may, on such occasions as he thinks proper, request the Governor on behalf of the Board or the Board to consult with the Minister in regard to the execution and performance by the Bank of any function and duty imposed on the Bank, other than those imposed by the Treaty or the Statute, and the Board shall comply with every such request.

(5) Subject to the requirements of the Treaty, the Statute, the Central Bank Acts, 1942 to 1997, and any other enactment, the Minister may, on such occasions as he shall think proper, request the Governor on behalf of the Board or the Board to inform the Minister in regard to the pursuit of the primary objective imposed on the Bank by subsection (1) of this section, and the Board shall comply with every such request.

(6) Without prejudice to the objective of maintaining price stability, the Bank shall support the general economic policies in the Community with a view to contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Community as laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty.”.

6 .— Section 7 (as substituted by section 21 of the Act of 1997) of the Act of 1942 is hereby amended—

(a) by the repeal of paragraph (g), and

(b) by the insertion after paragraph (m) of the following paragraphs:

“(mm) transfer assets, income or liabilities to the European Central Bank where required to under the Statute;

(mmm) exercise any power or perform any task or duty conferred on the Bank by or under the Treaty or the Statute;”.

7. — Section 21 of the Act of 1942 is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) If the Board, by unanimous vote of all the Directors, requests the President to remove the Governor from office on stated grounds of serious misconduct, it shall be lawful for the President on the advice of the Government to remove the Governor from office for such stated grounds and the removal shall take immediate effect from the date of the publication of the decision to remove the Governor from office or of the notification of that decision to the Governor.”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(3) Any decision, taken in accordance with this section, to remove a Governor may be subject to referral to the European Court of Justice in such a manner and for such reasons as are consistent with Article 14.2 of the Statute.”.

8. —The Act of 1971 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1) of section 18 (as substituted by section 37 of the Act of 1989):

“(1) A holder of a licence, any reporting agent designated by the European Central Bank (in this section referred to as a ‘reporting agent’) and any person carrying on a business—

(a) of an associated enterprise to which subsection (3) of this section relates,

(b) in respect of which that person is, by virtue of section 7 (4) (a) (ii) of this Act, exempted from the obligation to hold a licence,

(c) as an investment trust company,

(d) as a moneybroker,

(e) as a financial intermediary, or

(f) of issuing, holding or otherwise participating in any market in financial instruments including those to which Chapter VIII of the Central Bank Act, 1989 , applies,

shall each furnish the Bank—

(i) at such times as the Bank or, in the case of a reporting agent, the Bank or the European Central Bank, may specify from time to time, such information and returns concerning the business to which the licence relates or the activities of a reporting agent or the carrying on of a business as aforesaid by such person, as the case may be, as the Bank or, in the case of a reporting agent, the Bank or the European Central Bank, may specify from time to time, being information and returns which the Bank considers it necessary to have for the due performance of the functions of the Bank imposed on it by law or, in the case of a reporting agent, the Bank or the European Central Bank, and

(ii) within such period as the Bank or, in the case of a reporting agent, the Bank or the European Central Bank, may specify, any information and returns (not being information or returns specified under subparagraph (i) of this subsection) concerning the business to which the licence relates or the activities of a reporting agent or the carrying on of a business as aforesaid by such person, as the case may be, that the Bank or, in the case of a reporting agent, the Bank or the European Central Bank, may request in writing, being information and returns which the Bank considers it necessary to have for the due performance of the functions of the Bank imposed on it by law or, in the case of a reporting agent, the Bank or the European Central Bank.”.

9. — Section 23 (as amended by section 40 of the Act of 1989) of the Act of 1971 may be applied by the Bank to persons or classes of persons in the State specified under Article 19.1 of the Statute in pursuance of a requirement of the European Central Bank.

10. — Section 16 (as amended by section 50 of the Stock Exchange Act, 1995 , section 49 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 , and section 52 of the Act of 1997) of the Act of 1989 is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection(1)(b):

“(b) the Bank's activities in respect of the pursuit of its objectives as set out in section 6 (as amended by section 5 of the Central Bank Act, 1998) of the Central Bank Act, 1942 .”,

(b) by the substitution of the following subparagraphs for subparagraph (t) of subsection (2):

“(t) made to the European Monetary Institute or to the European Central Bank where such disclosure is required in accordance with the Treaty or the Statute,

(tt) made to an auditor to which section 11 of the Central Bank Act, 1998, applies,”,

(c) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (II) of subsection (2)(ii):

“(II) the issue by the Bank or by the European Central Bank of legal tender, or”,

and

(d) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (III) of subsection (2)(ii):

“(III) the pursuit by the Bank of its objectives under section 6 (as amended by section 5 of the Central Bank Act, 1998) of the Principal Act.”.

11. —Notwithstanding section 19 of the Act of 1989, the accounts of the Bank may be audited in accordance with Article 27 of the Statute and the Bank shall provide any auditors appointed in accordance with that Article, with full information, books and records.

12. — Section 23 of the Act of 1989 is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (4) of the following subsections:

“(5) Any claims on or liabilities to the European Central Bank shall be treated as assets or liabilities of the general fund or such other fund as may be established by order of the Minister for that purpose.

(6) Regulations under subsection (2) may provide for any matter arising from the implementation of Chapters VI, VIII and IX of the Statute.

(7) In exercising the powers conferred on the Minister by subsections (2) and (4), the Minister shall have regard to the powers, functions and duties conferred on the Bank by or under the Treaty and the Statute.

(8) In this Act—

‘the Treaty’ means the Treaty establishing the European Community done at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957 (as amended by the Treaty on European Union done at Maastricht on the 7th day of February, 1992);

‘the Statute’ means the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank as set out in Protocol (No. 3) (annexed by the Treaty on European Union done at Maastricht on the 7th day of February, 1992) to the Treaty establishing the European Community done at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957.”.

13. —The Act of 1989 is hereby amended by the deletion of subsections (2) and (3) of section 24 .

14. —The Decimal Currency Act, 1969 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 5 :

“5.—Every coin provided under section 3 or 4 of this Act shall be issued by the Minister through the Central Bank, subject to approval by the European Central Bank of the volume of issue.”.