20. (1) Where a member of the Board or the chief executive 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 Act of 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament,

he or she shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board or chief executive, as the case may be.

(2) Where a member of the staff of the Office 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 Act of 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament,

he or she shall thereupon stand seconded from employment by the Office and shall not be paid by, or be entitled to receive from, the Office any remuneration or allowances in respect of the period commencing on such nomination or election, or when he or she is so regarded as having been so elected (as the case may be), and ending when such person ceases to be a member of either such House or a representative in such Parliament.

(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 representative in the European Parliament shall, while he or she is so entitled or is such a representative, be disqualified for being a member of the Office, the chief executive or a member of the staff of the Office.

(4) A period mentioned in subsection (2) shall not, for the purposes of any superannuation benefit, be reckoned as service with the Office.

(5) In this section “Act of 1997” means the European Parliament Elections Act 1997