98.— (1) The Authority shall consist of 7 members, being the chairperson, the deputy chairperson and 5 ordinary members, appointed by the Minister in accordance with this section.

(2) A person is not eligible for appointment as chairperson or deputy chairperson unless the person—

(a) is or was, at any time during the 2 years immediately before the appointment, a Judge of the Supreme Court, F96[the Court of Appeal,] the High Court, the Circuit Court or the District Court, or

(b) is of not less than 10 years standing as a barrister or solicitor.

(3) Of the 5 ordinary members to be appointed by the Minister—

(a) one shall be a social worker with experience in adoption practice,

(b) one shall be a social worker with research expertise in child welfare, child protection or both,

(c) one shall be a barrister or solicitor with experience in the practice of law in relation to families and children,

(d) one shall be a medical practitioner whose name is for the time being included in a division of the register of medical practitioners referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2) of section 43 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 (as amended by the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2007, No. 42 of 2007), and

(e) one shall be a person with appropriate training in psychology.

(4) The Minister, to the extent practicable, shall endeavour to ensure that there is an equitable balance between men and women in the membership of the Authority.

(5) Each member of the Authority shall hold office for a period which the Minister shall determine, not exceeding 5 years from the date of appointment to the office.

(6) An appointed member who completes a term of office is eligible for reappointment to the Authority, but may not serve as a member for more than 2 consecutive terms.

(7) An appointed member may resign office by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation takes effect on the later of—

(a) the date specified in the letter, or

(b) the receipt of the letter by the Minister.

(8) If an appointed member resigns, dies, ceases to hold office (other than on completing a term of office), ceases to be qualified for office or is removed from office, the Minister as soon as practicable shall appoint a person to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned.

(9) A person appointed under subsection (8) holds office for the unexpired portion of his or her predecessor’s term of office.

(10) An appointed member, with the consent of the Authority, may vacate his or her office for a specified period of time if, in that member’s opinion, he or she has a conflict of interest in relation to a matter being considered by the Authority.

(11) The Minister may at any time remove an appointed member of the Authority from office if—

(a) in the Minister’s opinion—

(i) the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing the functions of the office,

(ii) the member has committed stated misbehaviour, or

(iii) the member’s removal from office is necessary for the Authority to perform its functions in an effective manner,

(b) the member has contravened, or failed to discharge a duty imposed by, a provision of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 that by a regulation made under section 3 of that Act applies to that member, or

(c) in performing functions under this Act, the member has not complied with a code of conduct under section 10(3) of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.

(12) A person immediately ceases to be a member of the Authority if the person—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) is convicted of an indictable offence,

(d) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

(e) has a declaration under section 150 of the Companies Act 1990 made against him or her or is subject or is deemed to be subject to a disqualification order by virtue of Part VII of that Act,

(f) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction, or

(g) is removed by a competent authority for any reason (other than failure to pay a fee) from any register established for the purpose of registering members of a profession.