39.— Section 104 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (2)—

(i) by the substitution of “number of applications, appeals” for “number of appeals”,

(ii) by the substitution of “under section 37J, 126, 177C, 177E or 221, or section 47E of the Act of 2001” for “under section 126”,

(b) by the insertion of the following new subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) Subject to section 108(1), and notwithstanding section 106(5), the Minister shall not fill one or more than one vacancy that arises in relation to an ordinary member, for such period as he or she considers appropriate, where he or she is of the opinion that the number of applications, appeals, referrals or other functions conferred on the Board by or under this Act is at such a level so as to necessitate that the vacancy is not filled and that the Board shall, notwithstanding the reduction in the number of Board members be able to fulfil its duty and objective under section 37J, 126, 177C, 177E or 221, or section 47E of the Act of 2001 or otherwise satisfactorily perform the functions so conferred.”,

(c) in subsection (4)—

(i) in paragraph (a)—

(I) by the substitution of “number of applications, appeals” for “number of appeals”,

(II) by the substitution of “the Minister may, subject to paragraphs (b) and (c),” for “the Minister may, pending the making and approval of an order under subsections (2) and (3) of this section”,

(III) by the substitution of “Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005” for “Civil Service Regulation Act 2005”,

(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “12 months” for “9 months”,

(iii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b):

“(c) The Minister shall appoint not more than 3 persons under this subsection at any one time, and the number of ordinary members appointed under this subsection shall not exceed one third of the total number of ordinary members at any one time.”.