Section 18.

Appointment.

(1) The Taoiseach shall appoint as the Disclosures Recipient a person who is a judge or retired judge of the High Court.

Term of office.

2. (1) The Disclosures Recipient shall hold office for an initial term of 5 years and is eligible for re-appointment for one further term of 5 years.

(2) The Disclosures Recipient may at any time resign by letter addressed to the Taoiseach, and the resignation takes effect on the date the Taoiseach receives the letter.

(3) The Taoiseach may remove the Disclosures Recipient from office, but only for stated misbehaviour or for incapacity.

(4) A person ceases to be the Disclosures Recipient on being—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

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

(c) regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to the European Parliament to fill a vacancy, or

(d) becoming a member of a local authority.

Terms and conditions.

3. The terms and conditions (including terms relating to allowances for expenses and, in the case of a person who is a retired judge of the High Court, terms relating to remuneration) on which the Disclosures Recipient holds office are such as may be determined at the time of appointment (or re-appointment) by the Taoiseach after consultation with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Administration and support services.

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Functions.

5. Where a protected disclosure is made to the Disclosures Recipient under section 18, the Disclosures Recipient shall consider the relevant information and—

(a) if he or she considers that the disclosure of relevant information is not one to which section 18 applies, shall give notice to the person by whom the disclosure was made stating that, and

(b) otherwise, shall make a report—

(i) referring the relevant information for consideration by the holder of such public office, or such public body, as appears to the Disclosures Recipient to be the most appropriate to consider the relevant information, and

(ii) including any such recommendations for the taking of action in relation to the relevant information as the Disclosures Recipient may consider appropriate.

Reports.

6. No later than 31 March in each year the Disclosures Recipient shall submit to the Taoiseach a report on his or her activities in the immediately preceding year.