32. The Act of 1976 is amended—

(a) in section 2—

(i) by inserting after the definition of “local authority” (inserted by section 15 of the Act of 2006) the following:

“ ‘majority-shareholding Minister’ means the Minister of the Government appointed from time to time by order of the Government under section 7B(2)(e);”,

and

(ii) in the definition of “pipeline” (as amended by section 23 of the Act of 2002) by substituting “section 8(3)(e)” for “section 8(3)(f)”,

(b) in section 6, by substituting “incurred by a Minister of the Government (other than the Minister for Finance)” for “incurred by the Minister”,

(c) by substituting for section 7B(2) (inserted by section 16 of the Act of 2006) the following:

“(2) (a) The Board may, in accordance with an approved scheme, make available to employees of the Board, or trustees on their behalf, up to 5 per cent of any capital stock in return for transformations in the company of at least equal value carried out by the employees of the Board.

(b) The Board shall issue 5 per cent of any capital stock to the Minister without payment and the said capital stock shall be treated as fully paid up.

(c) The Board shall issue 5 per cent of any capital stock to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform without payment and the said capital stock shall be treated as fully paid up.

(d) The Board shall issue the remainder of any capital stock to the majority-shareholding Minister appointed under paragraph (e) without payment and the said capital stock shall be treated as fully paid up.

(e) The Government may from time to time, for the purposes of implementing Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009³, by order appoint a Minister of the Government (other than the Minister or the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform) to be the majority-shareholding Minister.”,

(d) by substituting for section 7C (inserted by section 16 of the Act of 2006) the following:

“Exercise of powers by Ministers in respect of capital stock

7C. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the majority-shareholding Minister, the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform may each, in respect of the capital stock held by him or her, exercise all the rights or powers of a holder of such capital stock and, where such right or power is exercisable by attorney, exercise it by his or her attorney.

(2) The Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in respect of the capital stock held by each of them, shall not directly or indirectly exercise control over the Board in carrying out its functions under section 8 and in particular shall not be entitled to appoint a member of the Board or to exercise voting rights in respect of the Board.

(3) The majority-shareholding Minister, the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform shall not sell, exchange, surrender or otherwise dispose of all or any of the capital stock held by him or her under section 7B without the prior consent of the Government.”,

(e) in section 7E (inserted by section 16 of the Act of 2006), by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

“(1) The Board may make a scheme (in this section referred to as a ‘capital stock scheme’) as respects—

(a) the terms and conditions relating to the creation of capital stock, and

(b) the rights and obligations attaching to the capital stock,

and any such capital stock scheme shall be subject to the prior written consent of the majority-shareholding Minister given (where the majority-shareholding Minister is not the Minister for Finance, with the approval of the Minister for Finance) having consulted with the Minister, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the majority- shareholding Minister having regard to the functions of that other Minister, ought to be consulted.”,

(f) by substituting for section 7G (inserted by section 16 of the Act of 2006) the following:

“7G. All amounts representing dividends or other money received by a Minister of the Government (including the majority-shareholding Minister) in respect of capital stock held by that Minister under this Act shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance thinks fit.”,

(g) in section 8A (inserted by section 8 of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995), by substituting for subsection (6) the following:

“(6) The exercise by the Board of any power conferred on it by this section shall be subject to the prior written consent of the majority-shareholding Minister after consultation with any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the majority-shareholding Minister having regard to the functions of that other Minister, ought to be consulted.

(7) Without prejudice to the exercise by the Board of any of its functions, a subsidiary of the Board formed or established under this section or under any enactment may exercise such and so many of the Board’s functions as are provided for in the memorandum and articles of association of the subsidiary.”,

(h) in section 13(3), by substituting “majority-shareholding Minister” for “Minister”,

(i) in section 14, by substituting “majority-shareholding Minister” for “Minister” in each place that it occurs,

(j) in section 20(3)(a) by substituting “the majority-shareholding Minister” for “the Minister”,

(k) in section 23—

(i) in subsection (1) (as amended by section 9(a) of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 by substituting “with the prior consent of the majority-shareholding Minister, given where the majority-shareholding Minister is not the Minister for Finance with the approval of the Minister for Finance” for “with the prior consent of the Minister given with the approval of the Minister for Finance”, and

(ii) by substituting for subsection (3) the following:

“(3) The Board shall not borrow money under this section except with the prior consent of the majority-shareholding Minister given (where the majority-shareholding Minister is not the Minister for Finance, with the approval of the Minister for Finance) having consulted with the Minister, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the majority-shareholding Minister having regard to the functions of that other Minister, ought to be consulted.”,

(l) by substituting for section 24 the following:

“24. The Board may, with the consent of the majority-shareholding Minister given (where the majority-shareholding Minister is not the Minister for Finance, with the approval of the Minister for Finance) having consulted with the Minister, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the majority-shareholding Minister having regard to the functions of that other Minister, ought to be consulted, borrow temporarily either by arrangement with bankers or otherwise such sums as it may require for the purpose of providing for current expenditure.”,

(m) in section 29, by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

“(1) Notwithstanding anything otherwise contained in this Act, the Board shall sell, let, lease or demise or otherwise dispose of or grant a licence or right in respect of any right of working minerals which is vested in the Board (whether exclusive of any other person or otherwise) only with the consent of the majority-shareholding Minister given (where the majority-shareholding Minister is not the Minister for Finance, with the approval of the Minister for Finance) after having consulted with the Minister, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the majority-shareholding Minister having regard to the functions of that other Minister, ought to be consulted.”,

and

(n) in section 38(1), by substituting “transmitted or distributed” for “supplied”.