27.—(1) There shall be a committee (hereinafter called the Advisory Committee) to perform the functions assigned to it by or under this Act.

(2) The number of members of the Advisory Committee shall, subject to subsection (11), be twelve.

(3) (a) The Director General, or the Deputy Director General if and for so long as the Director General is not present or if the office of the Director General is vacant, shall, ex officio, be a member and shall chair the meetings of the Advisory Committee.

(b) In the event of the offices of Director General and Deputy Director General being vacant the Minister shall designate one of the other directors of the Agency to be a member of the Advisory Committee and to chair its meetings until either the Director General or the Deputy Director General is appointed.

(4) The directors other than the Director General shall be entitled to attend and be heard at meetings of the Advisory Committee but shall not be eligible to vote.

(5) The Minister may prescribe for the purposes of subsection (6)—

(a) organisations which in his opinion are representative of persons whose professions or occupations relate to environmental protection F49[or radiological protection],

(b) organisations which in his opinion are concerned with environmental protection F50[or radiological protection],

(c) organisations which in his opinion are concerned with the promotion of economic or other development,

(d) organisations which in his opinion are concerned with the promotion in relation to the community of social, economic or general interests,

(e) organisations which in his opinion are representative of persons concerned with F51[education or research relating to environmental matters or radiological protection].

(6) The members of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed by the Minister as follows—

(a) not less than one shall be so appointed from among persons selected by the organisations which for the time being stand prescribed under a particular paragraph of subsection (5), subject to seven persons being appointed in all,

(b) four other members shall be appointed by the Minister.

(7) The organisations prescribed under a particular paragraph of subsection (5) shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, select such number (not being less than four) of candidates as the Minister may specify for appointment and shall inform the Minister of the names of the candidates selected.

(8) Except in the case of an appointment pursuant to subsection (6) (b) and subject to subsection (10), the Minister shall not appoint a person to be a member of the Advisory Committee unless the person was among those selected pursuant to a request under subsection (7) in relation to that appointment.

(9) Notwithstanding subsection (7) or (8)—

(a) if the appropriate organisations prescribed under a particular paragraph of subsection (5) refuse or fail to select any candidate pursuant to a particular request under subsection (7), or

(b) if the Minister decides not to appoint as a member any of the candidates selected by such organisations pursuant to the request,

then either—

(i) the Minister shall appoint as a member a person who was among those selected by such organisations pursuant to a previous request (if any) under that subsection in relation to that appointment, or

(ii) the Minister shall make a further such request and he shall appoint as a member a person who was among those selected pursuant to that request or pursuant to another such request made in relation to that appointment.

(10) Where a request is made pursuant to subsection (7), failure or refusal by any or all of the organisations of whom the request is made to select the number of candidates specified in the request shall not preclude the appointment as a member of a person who was selected in relation to that appointment either by any of the aforesaid organisations or by any other organisation.

(11) The Advisory Committee may act notwithstanding vacancies in its membership.

(12) A member of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed for such term (not exceeding three years) as shall be specified by the Minister when appointing him (on such terms and conditions as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines) and a member whose term of office expires by the effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

(13) A member of the Advisory Committee shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of the Agency, such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines.

(14) The Advisory Committee may regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, its procedure or business.

(15) The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Advisory Committee.

(16) The Minister may make regulations as regards—

(a) the period within which the Minister is to be informed in accordance with subsection (7),

(b) any other matter which the Minister considers expedient for the purposes of this section.

(17) (a) A member of the Advisory Committee may resign from office by letter addressed to the Minister.

(b) The Minister may remove from office a member of the Advisory Committee if in the opinion of the Minister he has become incapable through ill-health of effectively performing his duties or for stated misbehaviour or his removal appears to the Minister to be necessary or desirable for the effective performance by the Advisory Committee of its functions.