F23[6.—(1) A college shall have a governing body established under this Act to perform the functions conferred on the college by this Act.

(2) The Second Schedule shall apply to a governing body.

(3) Subject to this Act, a governing body shall consist of 19 members as determined in accordance with this section.

(4) The members of a governing body shall be —

(a) a chairperson (in this section and in the Second Schedule referred to as the "chairperson"), who shall be an external member, appointed by the governing body,

(b) 9 external members (other than the chairperson), appointed by the governing body,

(c) the Director,

(d) 5 internal members (other than the Director), being —

(i) 3 members of the academic staff of the college, elected by the academic staff of the college,

(ii) one member of the non-academic staff of the college, elected by the non-academic staff of the college, and

(iii) one other internal member of the college,

and

(e) 3 student union representatives appointed by the governing body.

(5) The internal members of a governing body shall be elected or selected for appointment as such internal members in accordance with regulations made under subsection (9).

(6) Subject to subsection (7), with regard to the appointment of external members of a governing body —

(a) 3 such members shall be nominated by the Minister, and

(b) 7 such members shall be appointed by the governing body in accordance with a process for such appointments that is determined by the governing body and approved by the Minister.

(7) Before a person is nominated for appointment or appointed, as may be appropriate, as an external member of a governing body of a college, the Minister or the governing body of the college, as the case may be, shall be satisfied that the person is suitable for appointment as such an external member by reason of his or her possessing knowledge of, and experience in, matters connected with the functions of the college to enable him or her to make a substantial contribution to the effective and efficient performance of those functions.

(8) (a) The term of office of a member of the governing body, other than the Director, shall not exceed 4 years and such a member may not serve more than two consecutive terms of office.

(b) A member of the governing body who is a student at the college shall hold office for such period, not exceeding one year, as the governing body may determine but may be re-appointed for a further period not exceeding one year.

(9) A governing body shall, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations of the college relating to the selection, election, nomination or appointment of members of the governing body as it thinks fit, and their selection, election, nomination or appointment shall be carried out in accordance with those regulations.

(10) In performing functions under this section, the Minister and a governing body shall have regard to the objectives that —

(a) not less than 40 per cent of the members of the governing body shall be women and not less than 40 per cent of them shall be men,

(b) the membership of the governing body shall take account of the region served by the college, and

(c) the membership of the governing body shall broadly reflect the composition of Irish society, including persons who are competent in the Irish language.

(11) In this section —

“external member”, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body other than an internal member or a student member thereof or a member of the academic council of the college;

“internal member”, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body who is a member of the staff of the college or a person who is remunerated under a contract with the college;

“student member”, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body who is a student at the college.]