1. (1) The governing body shall retain in its possession a seal of the college.

(2) The seal of the college shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairperson or a member of the governing body authorised by the governing body to act in that behalf and by the signature of an officer of the college authorised to act in that behalf.

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal and any document purporting to be an instrument made by, and sealed with the seal of, the college shall, unless the contrary is shown, be received in evidence and taken to be such an instrument without further proof.

2. (1) A member of the governing body, other than the Director, shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, hold office upon such terms and conditions (including terms and conditions relating to remuneration and allowances for expenses) as may be determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

(2) There may be paid by the governing body to its members, other than the Director, such remuneration (if any) and such allowances for expenses (if any) as the Minister, with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, may determine.

3. (1) A member of the governing body, other than the Director, may resign from office by giving notice in writing to the chairperson (or if the member concerned is the chairperson, to the Director) of his or her resignation and the resignation shall take effect on the day when the chairperson, or as the case may be, the Director receives the notice.

(2) Where the chairperson of the governing body resigns as chairperson he or she shall at the same time cease to be a member of the governing body.

(3) The governing body may at any time remove from office a member of the governing body if, in the opinion of the governing body—

(a) the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions,

(b) the member has committed stated misbehaviour, or

(c) the removal of the member appears to be necessary for the effective performance by the governing body of its functions.

(4) A member of the governing body shall cease to be qualified for office and shall cease to hold office if he or she—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

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

(d) is convicted of any indictable offence in relation to a company or any other body corporate,

(e) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

(f) has a declaration under section 819 of the Companies Act 2014 made against him or her or is deemed to be subject to such a declaration by virtue of Chapter 5 of Part 14 of that Act, or

(g) is subject or is deemed to be subject to a disqualification order, within the meaning of Chapter 4 of Part 14 of the Companies Act 2014, whether by virtue of that Chapter or any other provision of that Act.

4. (1) If a member of the governing body, other than the Director, dies, resigns, ceases to be qualified for or ceases, for any reason, to be a member of the governing body, the governing body may appoint a person to fill the casual vacancy.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of the governing body pursuant to subparagraph (1)—

(a) shall be representative of the person, referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (d) or (e) of section 6(4), who occasioned the casual vacancy,

(b) shall hold office for so much of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy concerned as remains unexpired at the date of the appointment, and

(c) shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of the governing body on the expiry of that term of office.

5. (1) The governing body shall hold not less than 6 meetings in every 12 month period and such and so many additional meetings as may be necessary, as determined by the chairperson, for the due fulfilment of its functions.

(2) The chairperson shall convene a meeting of the governing body when requested to do so by not less than the number of members that constitutes a quorum.

(3) The quorum for a meeting of the governing body shall be set by the governing body at its first meeting and may be amended from time to time in accordance with standing orders under paragraph 11.

(4) At a meeting of the governing body it shall appoint from amongst its members a member (other than the Director) to be its deputy-chairperson and the deputy-chairperson shall, unless he or she sooner resigns as deputy-chairperson, hold office until he or she ceases to be a member of the governing body.

(5) At a meeting of the governing body—

(a) the chairperson shall, if present, be the chairperson of the meeting,

(b) if and so long as the chairperson is not present or if the office of chairperson is vacant, the deputy-chairperson, if present, shall be chairperson of the meeting, and

(c) if and so long as the chairperson is not present or the office of chairperson is vacant, and the deputy-chairperson is not present or the office of deputy-chairperson is vacant, the members of the governing body who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting.

(6) Every question at a meeting of the governing body shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members of the governing body present and voting on the question, and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairperson of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(7) Subject to subparagraph (3), the governing body may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among its members.

(8) The governing body may hold or continue a meeting by the use of any means of communication by which all the members can hear and be heard at the same time (in this Schedule referred to as an "electronic meeting").

(9) A member of the governing body who participates in an electronic meeting is taken for all purposes to have been present at the meeting.

6. (1) he governing body may establish committees (including committees relating to audit and risk management functions), consisting in whole or in part of persons who are members of the governing body or members of staff of the college to assist and advise it in relation to the performance of any of its functions.

(2) In appointing members of a committee established under this paragraph, the governing body shall have regard to—

(a) the range of qualifications and experience necessary for the proper and effective discharge of the functions of the committee, and

(b) the objective that not less than 40 per cent of members of the committee shall be women and not less than 40 per cent of them shall be men.

(3) The governing body may pay to members of a committee established under this paragraph such expenses incurred by them as the governing body may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine.

(4) The governing body may remove a member of a committee established under this paragraph from the committee at any time.

(5) The acts of a committee shall be subject to confirmation by the governing body, unless the governing body otherwise determines.

(6) The governing body may determine the terms of reference and regulate the procedure of a committee established under this paragraph.

(7) The governing body may appoint a person to be chairperson of a committee established under this paragraph.

(8) A committee shall provide the governing body with such information as the governing body may from time to time require, in respect of the activities and operations of the committee, for the purposes of the performance by the governing body of its functions.

(9) The governing body may at any time dissolve a committee established under this paragraph.

7. (1) Where a member of the governing body is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

(b) elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or to be a member of the European Parliament, or

(c) regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to that Parliament,

he or she shall thereupon cease to be a member of the governing body.

(2) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit in that House or who is a member of the European Parliament shall be disqualified, while he or she is so entitled or is such a member, from being a member of the governing body or a member of a committee established under paragraph 6.

8. (1) Subparagraph (2) applies where, at a meeting of the governing body, any of the following matters arise, namely—

(a) an arrangement to which the governing body is a party,

(b) an arrangement to which the governing body proposes to become a party,

(c) a contract or other agreement with the governing body, or

(d) a proposed contract or other agreement with the governing body.

(2) A member of the governing body present at the meeting referred to in subparagraph (1) who has a pecuniary interest or other beneficial interest in, or material to, the matter concerned shall—

(a) disclose to the governing body at the meeting the fact of that interest and its nature,

(b) not influence (or seek to influence) a decision to be made in relation to the matter,

(c) absent himself or herself from the meeting or that part of the meeting during which the matter is being discussed,

(d) take no part in any deliberation of the governing body relating to the matter, and

(e) not vote on a decision relating to the matter.

(3) Where an interest is disclosed pursuant to this paragraph, the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting concerned and, for so long as the matter to which the disclosure relates is being dealt with by the meeting, the member of the governing body by whom the disclosure is made shall not be counted in the quorum for the meeting.

(4) Where, at a meeting of the governing body, a question arises as to whether or not a course of conduct, if pursued by a member of the governing body, would constitute a failure by him or her to comply with the requirements of subparagraph (2), the question may, subject to subparagraph (5), be determined by the chairperson of the meeting, whose decision shall be final, and where the question is so determined, particulars of the determination shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

(5) Where, at a meeting of the governing body, the chairperson of the meeting is the member in respect of whom a question to which subparagraph (4) applies falls to be determined, the other members of the governing body attending the meeting shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting for the purpose of determining the question concerned.

9. Paragraph 8 shall apply to a member of a committee established under paragraph 6 where the member is not also a member of the governing body and for the purposes of that application—

(a) a reference to a member of the governing body shall be construed as reference to a member of the committee, and

(b)  a reference to the governing body shall be construed as reference to the committee.

10. (1) A person shall not disclose confidential information obtained by him or her while performing functions as—

(a) a member of or an adviser or consultant to the governing body, or a member of the staff of such an adviser or consultant, or

(b) a member of a committee established under paragraph 6,

unless he or she is authorised by the governing body to so do.

(2) A person who contravenes subparagraph (1) commits an offence.

(3) Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the disclosure of information—

(a) in a report made to the governing body,

(b) by or on behalf of the governing body to the Minister,

(c) by a member of the governing body to the Minister, or

(d) by a person in the circumstances referred to in section 35(2) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995.

(4) In this paragraph, "confidential information" includes—

(a) information that is expressed by the governing body to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description, and

(b) information relating to proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the governing body by contractors, consultants or any other person.

11. Subject to this Act, the governing body shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, its procedure and business.

12. Subject to this Act, the governing body may make, amend or revoke rules (in this Act called "regulations of the college") as it thinks fit for the conduct of the affairs of the college.]