23. (1) Where a member of the Board, or a committee, a member of a board of a subsidiary, a member of staff of the NCH (including the chief executive officer) or a subsidiary is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

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

(c) regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament, he or she shall—

(i) in the case of a member of the Board, or a committee, or a member of a board of a subsidiary, cease to be a member of the Board, a committee, or a member of the board of a subsidiary, and

(ii) in the case of a member of staff of the NCH (including the chief executive officer) or a subsidiary, be seconded from employment by the NCH or a subsidiary and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from the NCH or subsidiary any remuneration or allowances for expenses in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election, or when he or she is regarded as having been elected or on such election or co-option, as the case may be, and ending when he or she ceases to be a member of either such House or Parliament.

(2) There shall be no reckoning of any period mentioned in subsection (1) as service with the NCH or a subsidiary for the purposes of any superannuation benefits payable.

(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 shall, while that person is so entitled or is a member, be disqualified from being a member of the Board, or a committee, a member of the board of a subsidiary, the chief executive officer or a member of staff of the NCH or a subsidiary.