82.— Section 41 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 is amended by substituting the following for subsections (1) and (2):

“(1) The Authority shall consist of not less than 12 and not more than 16 members appointed by the Minister—

(a) of whom one shall be appointed as the chairperson of the Authority, and

(b) of whom, of the number appointed at any one time, the difference between the number of males appointed and the number of females appointed shall be not more than 2.”.