1.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

F1[‘the Tribunal’ means the Refugee Appeals Tribunal established by section 15;]

“applicant” means a person who has made an application for a declaration under section 8;

“authorised officer” means a person authorised in writing by the Commissioner to exercise the powers conferred on an authorised officer by or under this Act;

“the Commissioner” shall be construed in accordance with section 6;

“convention country” means a country other than the State for the time being standing designated in an order under section 22(6);

“declaration” shall be construed in accordance with section 17;

“the Dublin Convention” means the Convention determining the state responsible for examining applications for asylum lodged in one of the Member States of the European Communities done at Dublin on the 15th day of June, 1990 (the text of which, in the English language, is, for convenience of reference, set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act);

“the establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 14;

“the High Commissioner” means the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and includes the Representative for Ireland of the High Commissioner;

“the Geneva Convention” means the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on the 28th day of July, 1951, and includes the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees done at New York on the 31st day of January, 1967 (the text of which, in the English language, is, for convenience of reference, set out in the Third Schedule to this Act);

“immigration officer” means an immigration officer appointed under the Aliens Order, 1946 (S.R.& O., No. 395 of 1946);

“information” means information in the form of a document (including a thing) or in any other form;

“membership of a particular social group” includes membership of a trade union and also includes membership of a group of persons whose defining characteristic is their belonging to the female or the male sex or having a particular sexual orientation;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.

F2[‘Regulations of 2006’ means the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 518 of 2006);]

F3[‘Regulations of 2013’ means the European Union (Subsidiary Protection) Regulations 2013;]

F4[‘working day’ means any day not being a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday;]

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to any enactment shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act,

(b) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.