20.—(1) Where a person who is either an officer or servant of the Council is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann or as a candidate for election to Dáil Éireann or to the Assembly of the European Communities,

(b) elected as a member of Seanad Éireann, or

(c) regarded pursuant to section 15 (inserted by the European Assembly Elections Act, 1984) of the European Assembly Elections Act, 1977, as having been elected to the Assembly of the European Communities to fill a vacancy,

he shall stand seconded from employment by the Council and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, the Council any remuneration or allowances—

(i) in case he is nominated as a member of, or elected to Seanad Éireann or is so elected to the Assembly of the European Communities, in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election to Seanad Éireann or such election to the Assembly of the European Communities, as the case may be, and ending when he ceases to be a member of Seanad Éireann or that Assembly,

(ii) in case he is nominated as a candidate for election to Dáil Éireann or to the Assembly of the European Communities, in respect of the period commencing on his nomination and ending when he ceases to be a member of Dáil Éireann or that Assembly, as the case may be, or fails to be elected or withdraws his candidature, as may be appropriate.

(2) A person who is, for the time being, entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein or who is a member of the Assembly of the European Communities shall, while he is so entitled or is such a member, be disqualified from becoming an officer or servant of the Council.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, that subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the reckoning of a period mentioned in paragraph (i) or paragraph (ii) of that subsection as service with the Council for the purpose of any superannuation benefit.