Section 10

1. (1) The Commission shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and shall have power to sue, and may be sued, in its corporate name, and shall, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform have power to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land, and shall have power to acquire, hold and dispose of any other property.

(2) The seal of the Commission shall be authenticated by the signatures of both the Director General, and a member of the staff of the Commission authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Commission and any document purporting to be an instrument made by, and to be sealed with the seal of, the Commission shall, unless the contrary is shown, be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof.

2. (1) The Commission shall have a board (in this Act referred to as the “Board”) consisting of the following members, that is to say—

(a) a chairperson, and

(b) 8 ordinary members.

(2) The chairperson and the ordinary members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister.

(3) Of the ordinary members of the Board—

(a) 2 shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, represent the interests of employees,

(b) 2 shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, represent the interests of employers,

(c) one shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, represent the interests of bodies who seek to promote equality in the workplace, and

(d) 3 shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, have experience and expertise in relation to workplace relations, resolution of disputes in the workplace, employment law or equality law.

(4) The Minister shall, in so far as is practicable, endeavour to ensure that among the members of the Board there is an equitable balance between men and women.

(5) (a) The chairperson of the Board shall hold office for the period of 5 years from the date of his or her appointment.

(b) A member of the Board appointed under clause (a), (b) or (c) of subparagraph (3) shall hold office for the period of 2 years from the date of his or her appointment.

(c) A member of the Board appointed under clause (d) of subparagraph (3) shall hold office for the period of 3 years from the date of his or her appointment.

(6) Subject to subparagraph (7), a member (other than the chairperson) of the Board whose term of office expires by the efflux of time shall be eligible for reappointment to the Board.

(7) A person who is reappointed to the Board in accordance with subparagraph (5) shall not hold office for periods the aggregate of which exceeds 6 years.

3. (1) A member of the Board may resign from office by giving notice in writing to the Minister of his or her resignation and the resignation shall take effect on the day on which the Minister receives the notice.

(2) The Minister may at any time remove from office a member of the Board if, in the Minister’s opinion—

(a) the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions,

(b) the member has committed stated misbehaviour, or

(c) the member’s removal appears to the Minister to be necessary for the effective performance by the Board of its functions.

(3) A member of the Board shall cease to be qualified for office and shall cease to hold office if he or she—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

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

(d) is convicted of any indictable offence in relation to a company,

(e) is convicted of any indictable offence in relation to a company or any other body corporate,

(f) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, whether in connection with a company or not, or

F55[(g) is, or is deemed to be, the subject of an order under section 160 of the Companies Act 1990 or a disqualification order within the meaning of Chapter 4 of Part 14 of the Companies Act 2014.]

(4) A member of the Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, hold office upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

(5) There may be paid by the Minister to members of the Board such allowances in respect of expenses (if any) incurred by them as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine.

4. (1) If a member of the Board dies, resigns, ceases to be qualified for office and ceases to hold office or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the Board to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned in the same manner as the member of the Board who occasioned the casual vacancy was appointed.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of the Board pursuant to subparagraph (1) shall hold office for that period of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy concerned that remains unexpired at the date of his or her appointment and shall, subject to subparagraph (7) of paragraph 2, be eligible for reappointment as a member of the Board on the expiry of the said period.

5. (1) The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the due fulfilment of its functions.

(2) The Minister shall fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Board.

(3) At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairperson of the Board shall, if present, be the chairperson of the meeting, or

(b) if and so long as the chairperson of the Board is not present or if that office is vacant, the other members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting.

(4) Every question at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members of the Board present and voting on the question, and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairperson shall have a second or casting vote.

(5) Subject to subparagraph (7), the Board may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among its members.

(6) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall regulate its procedure by rules or otherwise.

(7) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall, unless the Minister otherwise directs, be 5.