16.—(1) Every person who is on the day immediately preceding the establishment day a member of the staff of Forfás working in the entity within Enterprise Ireland known as The Irish Energy Centre shall on the establishment day become a member of the staff of the Authority.

(2) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, a person referred to in subsection (1) shall not while in the service of the Authority be made subject to conditions of service (including conditions in relation to tenure of office) or of remuneration which are less favourable to such person than the conditions of service (including conditions of service in relation to tenure of office) or remuneration to which he or she was subject immediately before the establishment day.

(3) The Authority may appoint persons to be members of the staff of the Authority and the grades of the staff of the Authority and the numbers of staff in each grade shall be determined by the Board with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance.

(4) Subject to subsections (1) and (2) members of staff of the Authority shall hold their employment on such terms and conditions (including those relating to remuneration and allowances for expenses) as the Authority may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, determine from time to time.

(5) The Chief Executive may from time to time assign such duties as he or she considers appropriate to each member of staff and each member of staff shall carry out the duties so assigned.

(6) Where a member of the staff of the Authority—

(a) is nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

(b) is elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or as a representative in the European Parliament, or

(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 to fill a vacancy,

he or she shall thereupon stand seconded from his or her employment with the Authority and shall not be paid by or be entitled to receive from the Authority remuneration or allowances in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election, or when he or she is so regarded as having been elected (as the case may be), and ending when he or she ceases to be a member of that House or a representative in that Parliament.

(7) 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 representative in the European Parliament shall, while he or she is so entitled or is such a representative, be disqualified from becoming a member of the staff of the Authority.