996. (1) Sections 347 and 348 shall not apply to a DAC if it satisfies the following conditions:

(a) it has been formed for charitable purposes, and

(b) it stands exempted from those sections by an order made by the relevant authority (which order the relevant authority is, by virtue of this section, empowered to make),

and the exemption provided by that order may, as the relevant authority considers appropriate, be either for an indefinite or a limited period.

(2) The following provisions have effect in relation to a DAC referred to in subsection (1):

(a) unless the DAC is entitled to and has availed itself of the audit exemption conferred by Chapter 15 or 16 of Part 6, the statutory auditors of the DAC shall prepare a separate report to the directors which—

(i) confirms that they audited the relevant statutory financial statements for the relevant financial year; and

(ii) includes within it the report made to the members of the DAC pursuant to section 391;

and

(b) a copy of the report prepared under paragraph (a) shall be annexed to the annual return delivered by the DAC to the Registrar.

(3) The reference in subsection (2) to a copy of the report prepared under paragraph (a) of it is a reference to a copy that satisfies the following conditions:

(a) it is a true copy of the original save for the difference that the signature or signatures on the original, and any date or dates thereon, shall appear in typeset form on the copy; and

(b) it is accompanied by a certificate of a director and the secretary of the company, that bears the signature of the director and the secretary in electronic or written form, stating that the copy is a true copy of the original (and the foregoing statement need not be qualified on account of the difference permitted by paragraph (a) as to the form of a signature or of a date).

(4) F856[…]

(5) F856[…]

(6) In this section “relevant authority” means—

(a) before the establishment day (within the meaning of the Charities Act 2009), the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland, and

(b) on or after the foregoing day, the Charities Regulatory Authority.