64.— (1) Section 16 of the Act of 1983 is amended by the substitution, in subsection (1), of “with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” for “with the consent of the Minister for Finance and, where appropriate, the consent of the Minister for the Public Service”.

(2) Section 17 of the Act of 1983 is amended by the substitution of “with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” for “with the consent of the Minister for Finance and, where appropriate, the consent of the Minister for the Public Service”.

(3) Section 24 of the Act of 1983 is amended by the insertion, in subsection (1), of “, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,” after “shall”.

(4) Section 27 of the Act of 1983 is amended—

(a) in paragraph (a) of subsection (1), by the insertion of “, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” after “the consent of the Minister”, and

(b) in subsection (2), by the insertion of “and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” after “the consent of the Minister for Finance”.

(5) Section 29 of the Act of 1983 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) The Minister for Finance may, on the request of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and after consultation with the Minister, make available to the postal company a sum not exceeding €63,500,000 to finance capital works.”,

and

(b) in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1), by the insertion of “following consultation by him with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,” after “determined by the Minister for Finance,”.

(6) Section 31 of the Act of 1983 is amended, in subsection (1), by the substitution of “Upon the request of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the” for “The”.

(7) Section 46 of the Act of 1983 is amended, in subsection (9) (amended by section 11 of the Telecommunications (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1996), by—

(a) the substitution of “Minister for Finance shall, on the request of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,” for “Minister for Finance shall”, and

(b) the substitution of “with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” for “with his consent”.

(8) The Second Schedule to the Act of 1983 is amended by the substitution, in subparagraph (2) of paragraph 3, of “the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, shall” for “the Minister for Finance shall”.