667FAppeals officer

(1) The Minister may appoint a person to be an appeals officer (in this section and section 667G referred to as an ‘appeals officer’) for the purposes of an appeal under section 667G.

(2)An appeals officer shall be either a practising solicitor or a practising barrister, either of whom shall have not less than 5 years experience.

(3)A solicitor or barrister in the full-time service of the State shall not be an appeals officer.

(4)An appeals officer shall—

(a)hold office for a term of 3 years and, subject to subsection (6), shall be eligible for reappointment on the expiry of that term of office,

(b)be independent in the performance of his or her functions,

(c)be paid such fees and allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, may determine, and

(d)at such intervals and in relation to such periods as are specified by the Minister, submit a report in writing to the Minister in relation to the performance of his or her functions as an appeals officer during the period to which the report refers.

(5)An appeals officer may—

(a) resign from office by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect on the date on which the Minister receives the letter, or

(b) be removed from office by the Minister where in the opinion of the Minister the appeals officer—

(i)has become incapable through ill-health of effectively performing his or her functions under this section, or

(ii)has committed stated misbehaviour.

(6)An appeals officer may not serve more than two consecutive terms of office.

(7)The appeals officer may, in consultation with the Minister, establish the procedures to be followed by him or her regarding—

(a)the holding of a hearing,

(b)the examination by the appeals officer of the parties to the appeal or other persons,

(c)requests by the appeals officer for information or further information, for the purposes of the appeal, from the parties to the appeal or other persons,

(d)provision by the appeals officer to the parties to the appeal of all information for the purposes of the appeal, received by the appeals officer, and

(e)any other matter as the appeals officer considers appropriate for the proper performance by the appeals officer of his or her functions.

(8)The Minister shall, subject to the provisions of any enactment or rule of law, indemnify an appeals officer appointed by the Minister in respect of any act done or omitted to be done by him or her in the performance or purported performance of his or her functions as such appeals officer, unless the act or omission concerned was done in bad faith.