79.— The European Parliament Elections Act 1997 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2) of section 4, by the substitution of “sanctioned by the Minister for Finance with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” for “sanctioned by the Minister for Finance”,

(b) in subsection (3) of section 15A (inserted by section 51(d) of the Act of 2001), by the substitution of “Minister for Finance shall, with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,” for “Minister for Finance shall”,

(c) in subsection (1) of section 18, by—

(i) the substitution of “The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” for “The Minister for Finance”, and

(ii) the substitution of “the Minister for Finance shall, upon the request of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, recoup to” for “recoup to”,

(d) in subsection (2) of section 18, by the substitution of“, and upon the request of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, recoup to” for “, recoup to”,

(e) in subsection (6) (inserted by section 51(f) of the Act of 2001) of section 18, by the substitution of “with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and after consultation with the Minister” for “after consultation with the Minister”, and

(f) in paragraph (6) of rule 134 (inserted by rule jj of Schedule 1 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004) of Part XV of Schedule 2, by the substitution of “shall be paid by the Minister for Finance with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform” for “shall be paid by the Minister for Finance”.