10. (1) In this Act, “public body” means—

(a) a Minister of the Government,

(b) the Attorney General,

(c) the Comptroller and Auditor General,

(d) the Revenue Commissioners,

(e) the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland,

(f) the Commissioner of Valuation,

(g) the Garda Síochána,

(h) the Defence Forces,

(i) a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001,

(j) the Health Service Executive,

(k) an education and training board,

(l) a recognised school established and maintained by an education and training board,

(m) a board of a recognised school established and maintained by an education and training board,

(n) a body (other than an exempted body) established—

(i) by or under an enactment (other than the Act of 2014 or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act), or

(ii) under the Act of 2014, or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act, in pursuance of powers conferred by or under another enactment, and financed wholly or partly by means of moneys provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government,

in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made,

(o) a body (other than an exempted body) that is wholly or partly funded directly or indirectly out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas or from the Central Fund or the growing produce of that Fund and in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made,

(p) any subsidiary of, or company controlled (within the meaning given by section 10 of the Act of 1997) by, a body to which paragraph (i), (j), (k), (n) or (o) relates and in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made, and

(q) any other body specified in an order made under subsection (4).

(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister of the Government in whom functions in relation to that body are vested and having had regard to the matters referred to in subsection (3), by order exempt a body that would otherwise be included in the definition of “public body” in subsection (1).

(3) The Minister shall, prior to making an order under subsection (2), have regard to whether—

(a) the body proposed to be specified in the order is engaged for gain in the production, supply or distribution of goods or the provision of a service, and

(b) the use by that body of information disclosed to it by a public body could lead to the distortion of competition in trade in any goods or services in the State or in any part of the State.

(4) The Minister may, at the request of a body that would not otherwise be included in the definition of “public body” in subsection (1) and with the consent of the Minister of the Government in whom functions in relation to that body are vested, by order designate that body as a public body where—

(a) that body is financed wholly or partly, whether directly or indirectly, by means of moneys provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government, and

(b) the Minister is satisfied that the principal activity of the body is the delivery of services to the public under an agreement with a public body.

(5) In this section—

“Act of 1998” means the Education Act 1998;

“board” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1998;

“education and training board” means an education and training board established under section 9 of the Education and Training Boards Act 2013;

“exempted body” means—

(a) a body specified or referred to in the Schedule,

(b) a body specified in an order made under subsection (2),

(c) a recognised school (other than a recognised school referred to in subsection (1)(l)),

(d) a board (other than a board referred to in subsection (1)(m)), and

(e) a management committee established under section 37(3) of the Act of 1998;

“recognised school” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1998.