73. The Act of 1997 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 16:

“16. (1) Subject to this Part, a governing authority, other than in the case of Trinity College to which section 16A applies, shall consist of 19 members as determined in accordance with this Chapter.

(2) The members of a governing authority shall be—

(a) the chairperson, who shall be an external member, appointed by the governing authority,

(b) nine external members (other than the chairperson), appointed by the governing authority,

(c) the chief officer,

(d) five internal members (other than the chief officer) appointed by the governing authority, and

(e) three student union representatives appointed by the governing authority.

(3) The internal members of a governing authority shall be elected or selected for appointment as such internal members in accordance with regulations made under subsection (6).

(4) Subject to subsection (5), with regard to the appointment of external members of a governing authority—

(a) three such members shall be nominated by the Minister, and

(b) seven such members shall be appointed by the governing authority in accordance with a process for such appointments that is determined by the governing authority and approved by the Minister.

(5) Before a person is nominated for appointment or appointed, as may be appropriate, as an external member of a governing authority of a university, the Minister or the governing authority of the university, as the case may be, shall be satisfied that the person is suitable for appointment as such an external member by reason of his or her possessing knowledge of, and experience in, matters connected with the objects and functions of the university to enable him or her to make a substantial contribution to the effective and efficient performance of those functions.

(6) A governing authority shall, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations relating to the selection, election, nomination or appointment of members of the governing authority as it thinks fit, and their selection, election, nomination or appointment shall be carried out in accordance with those regulations.

(7) In performing functions under this section, the Minister and a governing authority shall have regard to the objectives that—

(a) not less than 40 per cent of the members of the governing authority shall be women and not less than 40 per cent of them shall be men, and

(b) the membership of the governing authority shall broadly reflect the composition of Irish society, including persons who are competent in the Irish language.

(8) In this section and in sections 16A, 17 and 23A—

‘external member’, in relation to a governing authority, means a member of the governing authority other than an internal member or a student member thereof;

‘internal member’, in relation to a governing authority, means a member of the governing authority who is a member of the academic council of the university, an employee of the university or a person who is remunerated under a contract with the university and, in the case of Trinity College, including fellows of Trinity College;

‘student member’, in relation to a governing authority, means a member of the governing authority who is a student of the university.”.