10. (1) F12[The Minister shall appoint a person specified in subsection (1A)] to act as Ombudsman—

(a) during the absence of the Ombudsman,

(b) where the Ombudsman stands suspended from his or her office,

(c) while the Ombudsman is unable to perform his or her duties for any reason, or

(d) during a vacancy in the office of the Ombudsman.

F13[(1A) The person referred to in subsection (1) shall be—

(a) where there is one Deputy Ombudsman, that Deputy Ombudsman,

(b) where there is more than one Deputy Ombudsman, one of those Deputy Ombudsmen, or

(c) where there is no Deputy Ombudsman, a member of staff appointed under section 15(1).]

(2) A person shall not be appointed to perform the functions of the Ombudsman for a continuous period of more than 12 months during a vacancy in the office of Ombudsman.

(3) No one is entitled to question the appointment under this section of F12[a person] to act as Ombudsman.

(4) F12[A person appointed under this section] is, when acting as the Ombudsman, taken to be that Ombudsman.