1579. (1) (a) For the purposes specified in paragraph (b), the Supervisory Authority may charge and impose annual fees, where necessary on an interim basis, having obtained the Minister’s consent and subject to paragraph (c), on a third-country auditor or third-country audit entity referred to in section 1573(1), in respect of registration, effected or provided in relation to the auditor or audit entity under and in accordance with this Part.

(b) Money received by the Supervisory Authority under this subsection may be used only for the purposes of meeting the Authority’s reasonable administrative expenses in performing its functions and exercising its powers under section 1573 and under any other provision of this Act that contains consequential or incidental provisions on, or in relation to, section 1573.

(c) The Supervisory Authority—

(i) shall submit the rationale for the level of fee to the Minister for approval before imposing a fee—

(I) initially when the fee is proposed, and

(II) at any time thereafter that the fee is proposed to be amended,

and

(ii) may charge fees on an annual basis to meet the reasonable administrative costs associated with the following tasks:

(I) the annual registration of such auditor or audit entity that is a statutory auditor or audit firm registered in a public register of a Member State pursuant to Articles 15 to 19 of the Audit Directive;

(II) the annual registration assessment and the annual registration of such auditor or audit entity that is not registered in a public register of a Member State pursuant to Articles 15 to 19 of the Audit Directive as a statutory auditor or audit firm.

(2) (a) For the purposes specified in paragraph (b), the Supervisory Authority may charge and impose fees, where necessary on an interim basis, having obtained the Minister’s consent and subject to paragraph (c), on a third-country auditor or third-country audit entity referred to in section 1573(1) in respect of the oversight, quality assurance and the related matters of investigation, discipline and penalties, effected or provided in relation to the auditor or audit entity under and in accordance with the relevant provisions.

(b) Money received by the Supervisory Authority under this subsection may be used only for the purposes of meeting the Authority’s reasonable administrative expenses in performing its functions and exercising its powers under section 930A, Chapter 7 and this Chapter and under any other provision of this Act that contains consequential or incidental provisions on, or in relation to, section 930A, Chapter 7 and this Chapter.

(c) The Supervisory Authority—

(i) shall establish criteria, as set out in subsection (3), for charging and imposing fees on a third-country auditor or third-country audit entity referred to in section 1573(1),

(ii) shall submit the criteria to the Minister for approval before imposing fees—

(I) initially when the criteria are established, and

(II) at any time thereafter that the criteria are amended,

(iii) may charge fees on an interim basis to meet the reasonable administrative costs associated with the functions of oversight, quality assurance and the related matters of investigation, discipline and penalties—

(I) before the function is performed,

(II) more than once, if necessary, during the performance of the function, and

(III) when the performance of the function is completed.

(3) Established criteria for charging and imposing fees on an interim basis on a third-country auditor or third-country audit entity referred to in section 1573(1) shall be based on costs incurred to meet the Supervisory Authority’s reasonable administrative expenses in relation to—

(a) location (including any necessary and consequential travel costs),

(b) the testing of the internal quality control system undertaken (including the time taken to review audit firms),

(c) the number and nature of the Irish relevant audit clients,

(d) how many third-country auditors are within the firm,

(e) staffing resources, being how many staff are required, at what level and for what period,

(f) expertise required (including the use (if any) of consultants located outside the State to undertake on-site inspections),

(g) the nature and significance of the findings (including the time allocated to inspection, drafting the report and follow-up to the recommendations),

(h) associated miscellaneous costs (including the translation of working papers relevant to the audit), and

(i) legal and other costs.

(4) Notwithstanding that the particular audit of a public-interest entity has been carried out by a statutory auditor, no fee under this section shall be imposed on the statutory auditor if he or she was designated by a statutory audit firm to carry out the audit, and the fees under this section shall, in those circumstances, be imposed on the statutory audit firm instead.

(5) A fee imposed under subsection (1) or (2) may, in default of payment, be recovered from the third-country auditor or third-country audit entity concerned as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.]