10.— (1) The Authority shall consist of not more than 11 members.

(2) The members of the Authority shall be appointed by the Minister, who shall designate one of them as its chairperson.

(3) In appointing persons to be members of the Authority, the Minister shall, subject to subsection (4), have regard to the desirability of their having knowledge or experience in consumer affairs, business, finance, management or administration or any other subject which would, in his or her opinion, be of assistance to the Authority in performing its functions under this Act.

(4) Of the members of the Authority—

(a) not more than 3 shall be persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, are representatives of persons who provide property services,

(b) not less than 3 shall be persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, have knowledge of, or experience in, consumer affairs, and

(c) one shall be an officer of the Minister.

(5) The Minister shall, in so far as is practicable and having regard to the knowledge or experience of matters relevant to the functions of the Authority of the persons concerned, ensure an appropriate balance between men and women in the composition of the Authority.

(6) Subject to this Act, a member of the Authority shall hold office for a period of 4 years from the date of his or her appointment.

(7) (a) Of the members appointed to the Authority on the establishment day, 5 members (but excluding the Chairperson) shall, subject to this Act, hold office for a period of 3 years from the date of their respective appointments as such members.

(b) The 5 members of the Authority referred to in paragraph (a) shall be selected by the drawing of lots, conducted in such manner as the Chairperson of the Authority thinks proper, at the first meeting of the Authority referred to in section 12(3).

(c) A member of the Authority may be selected as one of the 5 members of the Authority referred to in paragraph (a) notwithstanding the fact that he or she is not present at the first meeting of the Authority referred to in section 12(3).

(d) Notwithstanding section 12(2), the quorum for the first meeting of the Authority referred to in section 12(3) shall be 7 in so far as that meeting relates to selecting the 5 members of the Authority referred to in paragraph (a).

(8) A person may not be appointed to be a member of the Authority for more than 2 consecutive terms but is otherwise eligible for reappointment.

(9) A member of the Authority may at any time resign from office by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect on the date specified in the letter or the date the letter is received by the Minister, whichever is the later.

(10) A member of the Authority shall, unless he or she sooner dies, becomes disqualified for, resigns, is removed from office or otherwise ceases to be a member, hold office as such member until the expiration of his or her term of office.

(11) The Chairperson shall hold office as Chairperson until his or her term of office as a member of the Authority expires, unless that person sooner dies, becomes disqualified from holding office, resigns, is removed from office or otherwise ceases to be a member, but, if reappointed as a member, shall be eligible to be designated as the Chairperson.

(12) Each member of the Authority—

(a) shall hold office on a part-time basis and on such other terms (other than the payment of remuneration and allowances for expenses) as the Minister may determine, and

(b) shall be paid by the Authority, out of the resources at its disposal, such remuneration (if any) and allowances for expenses (if any) as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine.

(13) The Minister may for stated reason remove a member of the Authority from office if, in the opinion of the Minister—

(a) the member has become incapable through ill health of effectively performing the functions of the office,

(b) the member has committed stated misbehaviour,

(c) the member has a conflict of interest of such significance that, in the opinion of the Minister, the person should cease to hold the office, or

(d) the member’s removal appears to be necessary for the effective performance of the functions of the Authority.

(14) A person shall be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office as a member of the Authority if he or she—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with his or her creditors,

(c) is convicted on indictment of an indictable offence,

(d) is convicted of an offence involving 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) ceases to be ordinarily resident in the State, or

(g) falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 13(1).

(15) Where a member of the Authority dies, becomes disqualified from holding office, resigns, is removed from office or otherwise ceases to be a member, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the Authority to fill the resultant casual vacancy.

(16) A person appointed to be a member of the Authority under subsection (15) shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy.

(17) (a) A member of the Authority who, pursuant to subsection (7), holds office for a period of 3 years from the date of his or her appointment shall, for the purposes of subsection (8), be considered to have served a term as a member of the Authority even though he or she did not hold office for the period of 4 years referred to in subsection (6).

(b) A person who occasions or fills a vacancy shall, for the purposes of subsection (8) be considered to have served a term as a member of the Authority even though he or she held office for part only of the term.

(18) Subject to section 12(2), the Authority may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.