PART 1

Preliminary and General

1 .— (1) This Act may be cited as the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2006.

(2) The Companies Acts and Parts 2 and 3 shall be read together as one.

2 .— (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(2) Section 1 , this section and sections 3 to 6 and 9 , 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 and 35 shall come into operation on the passing of this Act.

(3) Sections 7 and 8 shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 July 2005.

3 .— In this Act—

“ Act of 1990 ” means the Companies Act 1990 ;

“ Act of 1997 ” means the Irish Takeover Panel Act 1997 ;

“ Act of 2005 ” means the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2005 ;

“ Minister ” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

“Regulations of 2006” means the European Communities (Takeover Bids (Directive 2004/25/EC)) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 255 of 2006).

4 .— Every order or regulation made under this Act (other than an order made under section 2 or 24 ) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order or regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order or regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

5 .— The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.