31AB. (1) Where the Planning Regulator or a member of the staff of the Office—

(a) accepts a nomination as a member of Seanad Éireann,

(b) is elected to be a member of either House of the Oireachtas or to be a member of the European Parliament,

(c) is regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to the European Parliament, or

(d) is elected or co-opted as a member of a local authority,

he or she shall thereupon—

(i) in the case of the Regulator, cease to be the Regulator, and

(ii) in the case of any member of the staff of the Office, stand seconded from employment by the Office and not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, the Office any remuneration or allowances for expenses in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election, or when he or she is so regarded as having been elected or on such election or co-option, and ending when he or she ceases to be a member of either such House, a member of such Parliament or a member of the local authority.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), that subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the reckoning of a period therein mentioned as service with the Office for the purpose of any superannuation benefits payable.

(3) A person who is for the time being—

(a) entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein,

(b) a member of the European Parliament, or

(c) entitled under the Standing Orders of a local authority to sit as a member thereof,

shall, while he or she is so entitled under paragraph (a) or (c) or is such a member under paragraph (b), be disqualified for being the Planning Regulator or a member of the staff of the Office.]