22.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (7), the members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister and shall consist of the following 23 persons:

(a) 2 persons employed as members of the academic staff, one at a University and the other at an Institute of Technology, and of whom one shall be a registered nurse and one shall be a registered midwife, who are appointed by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Education and Skills, and who are chosen by the Minister from lists of names of registered nurses and registered midwives so employed which are compiled, in accordance with procedures specified by the Minister, jointly—

(i) in the case of the first nomination to be made after the commencement of this section, by the institutions approved under section 34 of the Act of 1985 as suitable for the training of nurses or candidates, and

(ii) in any other case, by the bodies approved to deliver programmes of pre-registration nursing and midwifery education and training;

(b) one Director of Nursing or Director of Midwifery who shall be chosen by the Minister from a list of names of such Directors which is compiled by the Health Service Executive in accordance with procedures specified by the Minister;

(c) 8 registered nurses or registered midwives elected by registered nurses and registered midwives in accordance with procedures specified by the Minister, of whom—

(i) 2 shall be nurses, including at least one engaged in clinical nursing practice, one from the practice of general nursing and one from the practice of children’s nursing,

(ii) 2 shall be nurses, including at least one engaged in clinical nursing practice, one from the practice of psychiatric nursing and one from the practice of intellectual disability nursing,

(iii) 2 shall be persons, including at least one engaged in clinical practice, and one of whom is from the practice of midwifery and the other from the practice of public health nursing,

(iv) one shall be a person employed in the public health sector and engaged in the education of nurses or midwives, and

(v) one shall be a nurse from the area of nursing engaged in the care of older persons;

(d) one person nominated by the Medical Council whose name is entered in the register of medical practitioners maintained under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and who is not and never has been a registered nurse or registered midwife in the State or in another jurisdiction;

(e) one person nominated by the Minister for Education and Skills from a third-level educational establishment which is involved in the education and training of nurses or midwives and who is not and never has been a registered nurse or registered midwife in the State or in another jurisdiction;

(f) 2 persons nominated by the Health Service Executive who are representative of the management of the public health sector and who are not and never have been registered nurses or registered midwives in the State or in another jurisdiction;

(g) one person nominated by the Health and Social Care Professionals Council who is not and never has been a registered nurse or registered midwife in the State or in another jurisdiction and—

(i) subject to subparagraph (ii), who is a registrant within the meaning of section 3 of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, or

(ii) in the absence of any such registrant, who is a member of a designated profession within the meaning of that section;

(h) one person nominated by the Health Information and Quality Authority and who is not and never has been a registered nurse or registered midwife in the State or in another jurisdiction;

(i) one person who is experienced in the provision of health or personal social care in the voluntary sector and who is not and never has been a registered nurse or registered midwife in the State or in another jurisdiction; and

(j) 5 other persons who—

(i) are not and never have been registered nurses or registered midwives in the State or in another jurisdiction, and

(ii) have such qualifications, expertise, interests or experience as, in the opinion of the Minister formed after engaging in such consultations as he or she considers appropriate, would enable them to make a contribution to the performance of the Board’s functions.

(2) The Board shall elect a President of the Board from amongst its members—

(a) for the first term after the commencement of this section, for the term specified by the Board referred to in paragraph 13(2) of the Schedule, and

(b) for all other terms, in accordance with the Schedule.

(3) The Board shall elect a Vice-President of the Board from amongst its members in accordance with the Schedule.

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

(5) A person is not eligible for appointment as a member of the Board, or of a committee, if the person is—

(a) a member of either House of the Oireachtas or of the European Parliament, or

(b) regarded, pursuant to section 19 of the European Parliament Elections Act 1997, as having been elected to the European Parliament to fill a vacancy.

(6) A person who was a member of the Board immediately before the commencement of this section shall, on that commencement, cease to be a member of the Board unless the person is appointed pursuant to subsection (1) to be a member of the Board.

(7) Notwithstanding the appointment of persons to be members of the Board pursuant to this section, the Board may, without prejudice to section 6, perform any function assigned to it by any provision of the Act of 1985 until such provision is repealed.