33.—(1) Where the Minister is of opinion that the Board has failed, neglected or refused to perform any of its functions or has failed to perform effectively any of its functions or otherwise has contravened this Act, the Minister may, after first advising the Board of his or her opinion and considering any explanation given in response, appoint a person to inquire into any matter giving rise to that opinion.

(2) A person appointed under subsection (1) shall—

(a) inquire into the matters giving rise to the Minister's opinion and any related matter and make and submit a report in writing to the Minister on the findings of the inquiry.

(b) for the purposes of this section, be entitled at all reasonable times to enter the premises of the Board to inquire into the affairs of the Board or to conduct an inspection of the premises, equipment and records where the inspection is, in his or her opinion, relevant to the inquiry.

(c) be afforded all reasonable co-operation and assistance by the Board and its employees, including access to such premises, equipment and records as the person may require, for the purposes of his or her functions under this section.

(3) Where the Minister, after considering the report referred to in subsection (2) (a), remains of opinion that the Board has failed, neglected or refused to perform any of its functions or has failed to perform effectively any of its functions or otherwise has contravened this Act, the Minister shall, by notice in writing, inform the chairperson of the Board and shall give a copy of the report to the chairperson.

(4) The Board may make representations to the Minister in respect of the report within 14 days after the date of its receipt of the report.

(5) After the end of the period referred to in subsection (4) and after considering the representations, if any, of the Board in respect of the report, the Minister may by order remove the members of the Board from office and terminate their membership if—

(a) the Minister remains of opinion that the Board has failed, neglected or refused to perform any of its functions or has failed to perform effectively any of its functions or otherwise has contravened this Act, and

(b) the Minister is of opinion that the members of the Board should be removed from office.

(6) Where an order is made under subsection (5), the Minister shall appoint such person as he or she thinks fit to perform the functions of the Board and that person shall perform those functions until the commencement of the first meeting of the Board after the appointment of its members under subsection (8).

(7) Where an order is proposed to be made under subsection (5), a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

(8) The Minister shall, within 12 months from the removal of the members of the Board, appoint, in replacement of those members, members of the Board in accordance with section 29 and the Schedule to this Act.

(9) The remuneration, if any, of a person appointed under subsection (1) or of a person appointed under subsection (6) shall be determined by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance and be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.