Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998

PART III

The Board, Scientific Committee, Committees, Chief Executive and Staff of the Authority

Membership of Board of Authority and term of office of members.

31.—(1) There shall be a Board, to be known as the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, to direct and carry out the functions of the Authority in accordance with this Act and it shall satisfy itself as to the adequacy of the systems in place for that purpose and it shall otherwise manage and review the workings of the Authority.

(2) The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the establishment day, appoint persons to be members of the Board.

(3) The Board shall consist of a chairperson and 9 ordinary members, one of whom shall be the chairperson of the Scientific Committee.

(4) The Minister, when appointing an ordinary member of the Board, shall fix such member's period of membership which shall not exceed 5 years and, subject to this section, membership shall be on such terms as the Minister determines.

(5) Four of the ordinary members of the Board appointed under subsection (2) shall hold office for a period not exceeding three years from the date of their appointment as determined by the Minister.

(6) A member of the Board may at any time resign his or her membership by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect from the date specified therein or upon receipt of the letter by the Minister, whichever is the later.

(7) A member of the Board may at any time be removed from membership of the Board by the Minister if, in the Minister's opinion, the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions, or has committed stated misbehaviour, or his or her removal appears to the Minister to be necessary for the effective performance by the Authority of the functions of the Authority.

(8) A member of the Board shall cease to be and shall be disqualified from being a member of that Board where such member—

(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, or

(d) is disqualified or restricted from being a director of any company (within the meaning of the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990).

(9) If a member of the Board dies, resigns, retires, becomes disqualified 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 and the person so appointed shall be appointed in the same manner as the member of the Board who occasioned the casual vacancy. The person so appointed shall be appointed within 2 months of the Minister being notified of the vacancy.

(10) A member of the Board whose period of membership expires by the effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of the Board.

(11) The Minister shall, in so far as is practicable, ensure an equitable balance between men and women in the composition of the Board.