17.— (1) There is established on the appointed day a body to be known as, in the English language, the Dublin Transport Authority Advisory Council, or in the Irish language, Comhairle Chomhairleach Údarás Iompair Bhaile Átha Cliath, in this Act referred to as the Council, to perform the functions assigned to it by or under this Act.

(2) The Council shall consist of a chairperson and 23 ordinary members.

(3) The Minister shall appoint a person who in his or her opinion has wide experience in relation to transport, industrial, commercial, financial, land use planning or environmental matters, the organisation of workers or administration, to be chairperson of the Council.

(4) The ordinary members of the Council shall be appointed by the Minister as follows:

F21[(a) 3 local authority chief executives or officers as follows:

(i) the Chief Executive of Dublin City Council,

(ii) one from the chief executives for the County Councils of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin, as decided by those chief executives, and

(iii) one from the chief executives for the County Councils of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, as decided by those chief executives,

or an officer of those Councils as nominated by the relevant chief executive,]

(b) a member of the Garda Síochána (not below the rank of Chief Superintendent) nominated by the Commissioner,

(c) a member of each City Council and County Council in the GDA nominated by the members of the Councils concerned,

(d) a member of the Dublin Regional Authority and a member of the Mid-East Regional Authority nominated by the authorities concerned,

(e) 2 members nominated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions,

(f) 2 members representative of the interests of business,

(g) 2 members representative of the interests of community development in the GDA or concerned with the promotion of the social, economic, environmental or general interests of communities in that Area, and

(h) 4 members representative of the public interest.

(5) The Minister may prescribe organisations (“prescribed organisations”) which shall be invited to nominate candidates for membership of the Council under subsection (4)(f) to (h).

(6) The prescribed organisations for the purposes of subsection (4)(h) may include organisations which, in the opinion of the Minister, are representative of—

(a) the interests of transport users,

(b) the interests of people with disabilities, or

(c) persons whose professions or occupations relate to transport, land use planning, urban design, architecture or civil engineering.

(7) A prescribed organisation shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, select such number (not being less than 2 and always being an even number) of candidates as the Minister may specify for appointment and shall inform the Minister, within such period as the Minister shall specify when making the request, of the names of the candidates selected and of the reasons why, in the opinion of the organisation, they are suitable for such appointment.

(8) (a) In making nominations under subsection (4)(e) or selections under subsection (7), the organisations concerned shall, having regard to relevant experience, nominate or select an equal number of men and women.

(b) In considering persons for appointment under subsection (4), the Minister shall have regard, in so far as is practicable, to relevant experience and ensuring an equitable balance between men and women in the composition of the Council.

(9) Subject to subsection (10), in the case of an appointment under subsection (4)(f) to (h) the Minister shall not appoint a person to be an ordinary member of the Council unless the person was among those selected pursuant to a request under subsection (7) in relation to that appointment.

(10) Notwithstanding subsection (7) or (9), if—

(a) a prescribed organisation refuses or fails to select any candidate pursuant to a particular request under subsection (7), or

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

then the Minister shall either—

(i) appoint as an ordinary member of the Council 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) make a further such request and shall appoint as an ordinary member of the Council a person who was among those selected pursuant to that request or pursuant to another such request made in relation to that appointment.

(11) Where a request is made under 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 an ordinary member of the Council of a person who was selected in relation to that appointment by any of the aforesaid organisations.

(12) The chairperson of the Council shall chair the meetings of the Council and, in the event of the chairperson being unable to attend a meeting of the Council or of the office of chairperson being vacant, the ordinary members who are present shall choose one of their number to chair the meeting.

(13) An appointment under this section, including the appointment of the chairperson, shall be for a period not exceeding 5 years as may be specified by the Minister when making the appointment and on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(14) Where an ordinary member of the Council appointed under—

(a) subsection (4)(a) ceases to be the manager or an officer of the city or county council concerned,

(b) subsection (4)(b) ceases to be a member of the Garda Síochána, or

(c) subsection (4)(c) or (d) ceases to be a member of the city or county council or the regional authority concerned,

during the term of office specified by the Minister under subsection (13) in relation to that ordinary member, the person’s appointment as such member is terminated with effect from the date of the cessation.

(15) A member of the Council, including the chairperson, shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of the Authority, such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(16) A member of the Council, including the chairperson, whose term of office expires by the passage of time shall be eligible for re-appointment, subject to subsection (14).

(17) Subject to this section, the Council shall regulate its own procedure and business.

(18) The Authority shall provide all reasonable facilities and services as may be required by the Council for the carrying out of its functions.

(19) The Council may act notwithstanding a vacancy or vacancies in its membership.

(20) The Minister shall fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Advisory Council and the members of the Council shall decide on the frequency of all further meetings, subject to its meeting at least 4 times a year.

(21) The chairperson or an ordinary member of the Council may at any time—

(a) resign his or her membership by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect from the date specified therein or upon the date of receipt of the letter, whichever is later, or

(b) be removed from membership of the Council by the Minister if, in the Minister’s opinion, the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions, or has committed stated misbehaviour, or his or her removal appears to the Minister to be necessary for the effective performance by the Council of its functions.

(22) The Minister shall by order appoint a day to be the appointed day for the purposes of this section.