9.    (1) The Authority shall consist of 11 members.

(2) (a) The members of the Authority shall be appointed by the Government, a resolution approving such appointment having been passed by Dáil Éireann and by Seanad Éireann.

(b) The Government shall appoint one of the lay members of the Authority to be chairperson of the Authority (in this Part referred to as the “Chairperson”).

(3) In appointing a person to be a member of the Authority, the Government shall satisfy themselves that he or she has knowledge of, and expertise in relation to, one or more of the following:

(a) the provision of legal services;

(b) legal education and legal training;

(c) competition law and policy;

(d) the maintenance of standards in professions regulated by a statutory body;

(e) dealing with complaints against members of professions regulated by a statutory body;

(f) business and commercial matters;

(g) the needs of consumers of legal services.

(4) Of the persons appointed to be members of the Authority—

(a) a majority shall be lay persons of whom—

(i) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Citizens Information Board,

(ii) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by An tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas,

(iii) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission,

(iv) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission,

(v) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Institute of Legal Costs Accountants, being the body of that name that is engaged in the representation and regulation of legal costs accountants in the State,

(vi) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, being the association of that name whose purpose is to promote and protect the interests of consumers,

(b) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Bar Council,

(c) 1 shall be a solicitor nominated for appointment by the Legal Aid Board,

(d) 1 shall be nominated for appointment by the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, and

(e) 2 shall be nominated for appointment by the Law Society.

(5) In nominating persons for appointment under this section, a nominating body referred to in subsection (4) —

(a) shall—

(i) subject to subparagraph (ii), nominate a primary nominee of one sex and a substitute nominee of the other sex, and

(ii) in the case of the Law Society, where both members of the Authority to be nominated by it under subsection (4)(e) are nominated at the same time, nominate one man and one woman,

and

(b) shall satisfy itself that its nominees meet the criteria specified in subsection (3).

(6) In appointing members of the Authority, the Government shall—

(a) have regard to the objective of there being no fewer than 4 members who are women and no fewer than 4 members who are men, and

(b) appoint a substitute nominee referred to in subsection (5)(a)(i) rather than a primary nominee of the nominating body concerned, but only where necessary in order to achieve that objective.