15.  (1) Where a member of the Authority, a member of a committee, the chief executive or a member of the staff of the Authority is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

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

(d) elected or co-opted as a member of a local authority,

(e) appointed to be a judge, or

(f) appointed to be the Attorney General,

he or she shall thereupon—

(i) in the case of a member of the Authority, a member of a committee established under section 16 or the chief executive cease to be a member of the Authority or the committee, or the chief executive, as the case may be, and

(ii) in the case of a member of the staff of the Authority, stand seconded from employment by the Authority and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, the Authority any remuneration or allowances for expenses in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election or appointment, or when he or she is regarded as having been so 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, a member of such Parliament or a member of the local authority or ceases to be a judge or the Attorney General, as the case may be.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), that subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the reckoning of a period mentioned in subparagraph (ii) of that subsection as service with the Authority for the purposes of any superannuation benefits payable under section 27.

(3) A person who is for the time being—

(a) entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein,

(b) a member of the European Parliament, or

(c) entitled under the standing orders of a local authority to sit as a member thereof,

shall, while he or she is so entitled under paragraph (a) or (c) or is such a member under paragraph (b), be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office as a member of the Authority, a member of a committee, the chief executive or a member of the staff of the Authority.