40.— (1) Where a member of IFI, a member of a committee of IFI or the chief executive—

(a) is nominated as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament,

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

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

(d) is regarded under Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament to fill a vacancy,

he or she thereupon ceases to hold office.

(2) Where a person who is an employee of IFI (other than the Chief Executive) is—

(a) nominated as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament,

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

(c) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, or

(d) regarded under Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament to fill a vacancy,

he or she thereupon stands seconded from employment by IFI and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, IFI any 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 such person is regarded as not having been elected or ceases to be a member of either such House or that Parliament, as the case may be.

(3) 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 member of the European Parliament shall, while so entitled or such a member, be disqualified from becoming a member of IFI, the chief executive or an employee of IFI.

(4) A person who is a member of a local authority shall be disqualified from becoming the chief executive while he or she is a member of such local authority.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), that subsection shall be read as prohibiting, inter alia, the reckoning of a period mentioned in that subsection as service with IFI for the purposes of any superannuation benefits.