4.—Section 1 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting after the definition of “established service” the following definition:

“ ‘Head’ in relation to a Scheduled Office, means the person appointed as the principal officer of the Scheduled Office, or where no such person has been appointed, the person designated by order of the Government to be Head of the Scheduled Office for the purposes of this Act;”,

(b) by inserting after the definition of “member of the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas” the following definition:

“ ‘Ministerial Private Office appointment’ has the same meaning as the meaning assigned to ‘special adviser’ in section 19 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995;”,

(c) by inserting after the definition of “the Minister” the following definition:

“ ‘Minister of the Government’ includes—

(a) in relation to a Scheduled Office within the meaning of the Public Service Management Act 1997 which is specified in column (1) of Part 1 of the Schedule to that Act, the person who holds the office specified in column (2) of that Schedule at that reference number, whether or not such person has consented to the application of that Act to such Scheduled Office, and

(b) in relation to a Scheduled Office which is specified in column (1) of Schedule 2 to this Act, the person specified in column (2) of that Schedule at that reference number.”,

and

(d) by inserting after the definition of “officer to whom the Act of 1919 applies” the following definitions:

“ ‘Scheduled Office’ means an office or branch of the public service specified in—

(a) column (1) of Part I of the Schedule to the Public Service Management Act 1997 (whether or not that Act applies to the Scheduled Office concerned),

(b) Part II of the Schedule to the Public Service Management Act 1997, and

(c) column (1) of Schedule 2 to this Act;

‘Secretary General’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Public Service Management Act 1997;”.