24.—(1) In this section—

“Act of 1997” means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997;

“Collector-General” means the Collector-General appointed under section 851 of the Act of 1997;

“person” does not include an individual who provides a security service in the course of an employment but includes—

(a) in the case of a body corporate, the directors, and

(b) in the case of a partnership, the partners;

“tax clearance certificate” means a certificate under section 1095 (as substituted by section 127(b) of the Finance Act 2002) of the Act of 1997.

(2) The Authority shall refuse to grant or renew a licence to or in respect of a person in relation to whom a tax clearance certificate is not in force.

(3) The Authority may nevertheless grant or renew a licence to or in respect of such a person if—

(a) the person has, at least four months before applying for the grant or renewal, applied for a tax clearance certificate and either—

(i) that application has not been determined, or

(ii) it has been refused and an appeal against the refusal has been made under section 1094(7) of the Act of 1997 but not determined,

and

(b) the Authority would, but for subsection (2), have granted or renewed the licence.

(4) The Authority shall notify the Collector-General of the issue of a licence granted or renewed under subsection (3).

(5) Such a licence shall expire—

(a) if the application for a tax clearance certificate is granted or is granted on appeal, on the day on which it would expire if the certificate had been in force when the licence was granted or renewed,

(b) if the application is refused and—

(i) an appeal against the refusal under the said section 1094(7) is not made within the period of 30 days after the refusal, on the expiration of that period, or

(ii) such an appeal is so made but is not successful, 7 days after the appeal has been determined or finally determined.

(6) The Collector-General shall notify the Authority of the determination of any such application for a tax clearance certificate, of any appeal against a refusal of such an application and of the final determination of any such appeal.

(7) The reference in subsection (3)(a)(ii) to section 1094(7) is to that provision as applied by subsection (6) of section 1095 (as substituted by section 127(b) of the Finance Act 2002) of the Act of 1997.