36.—(1) A governing authority shall, as soon as practicable but not later than 12 months after it is established under this Act and at such other times as it thinks fit, require the chief officer to prepare a statement of the policies of the university in respect of—

(a) access to the university and to university education by economically or socially disadvantaged people, by people who have a disability and by people from sections of society significantly under-represented in the student body, and

(b) equality, including gender equality, in all activities of the university,

and the chief officer, in preparing the statement, shall have regard to such policies on those matters as may from time to time be determined by the Minister.

F32[(1A) A governing authority shall, for the purposes of preparing a statement under subsection (1), consult with—

(a) the Minister,

(b) such other Ministers of the Government as the governing authority considers appropriate,

(c) An tÚdarás,

(d) the students or the Student Union of the university,

(e) the employees of the university,

(f) the academic council of the university,

(g) the education and training board in whose education and training board area the campus of the university is located or such other education and training board as the governing authority considers appropriate,

(h) a local authority (within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001 ) in whose functional area the campus of the university is located, and

(i) such other body or person as the governing authority considers appropriate.]

(2) A governing authority may, having regard to the resources available to the university, either approve the statement prepared under subsection (1) without modification or, after consultation with the chief officer, approve the statement with such modifications as it thinks fit.

(3) A university shall implement the policies set out in the statement as approved under subsection (2).