1. An Foras shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land or of any other property.

F21[2.(1)An Foras shall consist of the following members, that is to say—

(a) a chairman, and

(b) 10 ordinary members (including the Director General).

(2) The members of An Foras shall be appointed by the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Education and Science and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, from among persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, have experience of, and expertise in matters connected with—

(a) the functions of An Foras, or

(b) finance, trade, commerce, corporate governance or public administration.

(3) Subject to subparagraph (5), the chairman of An Foras shall hold office for such period not exceeding 5 years from the date of his appointment, as the Minister shall determine.

(4) Subject to subparagraph (5), an ordinary member of An Foras shall hold office for such period not exceeding 5 years from the date of his appointment, as the Minister shall determine.

(5) Of the members of An Foras (other than the Director General) first appointed after the commencement of section 9(a) of the Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009—

(a) such 3 members as the Minister shall determine shall hold office for 3 years from the date of their appointment,

(b) such 3 members as the Minister shall determine shall hold office for 4 years from the date of their appointment, and

(c) such 3 members as the Minister shall determine shall hold office for 5 years from the date of their appointment.

(6) Subject to subparagraph (7), a member of An Foras (other than the Director General) whose term of office expires by the effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment to An Foras.

(7) A member of An Foras (other than the Director General) who has served 2 terms of office shall not be eligible for reappointment to An Foras, and any period during which a person serves as a member of An Foras pursuant to an appointment under paragraph 7 (inserted by section 9(b) of the Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009) shall be deemed for the purposes of this subparagraph to be a term of office.

(8) The members of An Foras in office immediately before the commencement of section 9(a) of the Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009 shall continue in office for the period beginning on the date of such commencement and ending on the date of the first appointment of members of An Foras under this paragraph after such commencement, and An Foras as constituted immediately before such commencement shall during that period be deemed to be validly constituted for all purposes. ]

3. The chairman of An Foras may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister.

4. The Minister may at any time remove the chairman of An Foras from office.

5. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the chairman shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine.

6. The chairman of An Foras shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of An Foras, such remuneration and allowances for expenses incurred by him as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

F22[7. (1) If a member of An Foras (other than the Director General) dies, resigns, ceases to be qualified for office and ceases to hold office or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of An Foras to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of An Foras pursuant to this paragraph shall hold office for—

(a) that period of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy concerned that remains unexpired at the date of his appointment, or

(b) such other period, not exceeding 5 years, as the Minister may determine,

and shall, subject to subparagraph (7) of paragraph 2 (inserted by section 9 (a) of the Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009), be eligible for reappointment as a member of An Foras on the expiry of the said period. ]

8. Each member of An Foras shall be a part-time member of An Foras and, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, each ordinary member of An Foras shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine.

9. An ordinary member of An Foras whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of An Foras or for election or re-election for such re-appointment, as may be appropriate.

10. The Minister may at any time remove an ordinary member of An Foras from office.

11. An ordinary member of An Foras may resign his office as a member by letter addressed to the Minister.

F23[12. (1) The Minister may at any time remove from office a member of An Foras and, in particular, may remove such member from office if the Minister is satisfied that—

(a) the member is not adequately performing his functions, whether by reason of incapacity through illness or injury or for any other reason,

(b) a material conflict of interest exists in relation to the performance by the member of his functions,

(c) the removal of the member is necessary or expedient for the effective performance by An Foras of its functions,

(d) the member has contravened section 9A (inserted by section 6 of the Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009), or

(e) the member has contravened the Act of 1995.

(2) Where a person is removed from office pursuant to subparagraph (1), he shall thenceforth be disqualified for membership of An Foras.

(3) A member of An Foras may resign from office by notice in writing given to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect on the day on which the Minister receives the notice.

(4) A member of An Foras shall cease to be qualified for office and shall cease to hold office if he—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) is convicted of an indictable offence in relation to a company,

(d) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, whether in connection with a company or not,

(e) is the subject of an order under section 160 of the Companies Act 1990,

(f) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction, or

(g) ceases to be ordinarily resident in the State.

(5) A member of An Foras shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, hold office upon such terms and conditions (including terms and conditions relating to remuneration and allowances) as may be determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance. ]

13. Each ordinary member of An Foras shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of An Foras, such remuneration (if any) and allowances for expenses incurred by him (if any) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may sanction.

14. An Foras shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

15. The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of An Foras.

16. The quorum for a meeting of An Foras shall be F24[7].

17. At a meeting of An Foras—

(a) the chairman of An Foras shall, if present, be the chairman of the meeting,

(b) if and so long as the chairman of An Foras is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of An Foras who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

18. The chairman of An Foras, and each ordinary member of An Foras, present at a meeting thereof shall have a vote.

19. Every question at a meeting of An Foras shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

20. An Foras may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.

21. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, An Foras shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business of An Foras.

22. An Foras shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal.

23. The seal of An Foras shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman of An Foras or some other member thereof authorised by An Foras to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of An Foras authorised by An Foras to act in that behalf.

24. Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of An Foras and every document purporting to be an instrument made by An Foras and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with paragraph 23) of An Foras shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.

F25[…]