129. The Act of 1971 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 20C (inserted by section 128):

“20D. (1) (a) The Director shall, as soon as practicable after the coming into operation of section 129 of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022, prepare a statement (in this section called an ‘equality statement’) for the period specified in the statement.

(b) The period to which the equality statement relates shall be such period as An Bord considers appropriate and directs the Director to specify in the statement, being a period of not less than 3 years and not more than 5 years from the date that the Director prepares the equality statement under subsection (1).

(c) The Director shall prepare each subsequent equality statement not earlier than 6 months, and not later than 3 months, before the expiration of the period specified in the plan.

(2) The Director shall for the purposes of preparing an equality statement under this section consult with—

(a) the Minister,

(b) such other Ministers of the Government as An Bord considers appropriate,

(c) An tÚdarás,

(d) the students or the student union of the College,

(e) the members of the staff of the College,

(f) the academic council, and

(g) such other bodies or persons as An Bord considers appropriate.

(3) The equality statement shall specify—

(a) the policy of the College for enabling access to it, and the education it provides, by economically or socially disadvantaged persons, by persons who have a disability and by persons from sections of society significantly under-represented in the student body, and

(b) the policy of the College relating to equality, including gender equality, in all activities of the College.

(4) The Director shall submit the draft equality statement to An Bord for approval once it has been prepared.

(5) An Bord, having regard to the resources available to it, may either approve the draft equality statement without modification or, after consultation with the Director, approve the statement with such modifications as it thinks fit.

(6) An Bord, in approving the draft equality statement under subsection (5), shall have regard to such policies on the matters referred to in subsection (3) as may from time to time be determined by the Minister.

(7) An Bord shall implement the policies set out in the equality statement.”.