21.— The Comhairle Act 2000 is amended by inserting the following section after section 18:

“Exclusion resulting from membership of either House of the Oireachtas, European Parliament or local authorities.

18A.— (1) Where a member of the Board—

(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,

(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, or

(e) becomes a member of a local authority,

he or she thereupon ceases to hold office.

(2) Where a person who is a member of the staff of the Board—

(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,

(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, or

(e) becomes a member of a local authority,

he or she thereupon stands seconded from employment by the Board and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, the Board 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, or when he or she becomes a member of a local authority, as the case may be, and ending when such person ceases to be a member of either such House or such Parliament, or such local authority, 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 or a local authority shall, while so entitled or such a member, be disqualified from becoming a member of the Board, the chief executive or an employee of the Board.

(4) 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 the Board for the purposes of any superannuation benefits.

(5) This section applies to a person who—

(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,

(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, or

(e) becomes a member of a local authority,

on or after 1 July 2011.”.