(1) Subject to subsection (2), the chief executive shall, at the request in writing of an Oireachtas Committee, attend before it to give an account of the general administration of the Authority.

(2) The chief executive shall not be required to give an account before an Oireachtas Committee of any matter which is the subject of proceedings before a court or tribunal in the State.

(3) Where the chief executive is of the opinion that a matter in respect of which he or she is requested to give an account before an Oireachtas Committee is a matter to which subsection (2) applies, he or she shall inform the Oireachtas Committee of that opinion and the reasons for the opinion and, unless the information is conveyed to that Oireachtas Committee at a time when the chief executive is before it, the information shall be so conveyed in writing.

(4) Where the chief executive has informed an Oireachtas Committee of his or her opinion in accordance with subsection (3) and the Oireachtas Committee does not withdraw its request on the matter the subject of that opinion -