8 Appointment of Commissioners

(1) In this section “Act of 2004” means the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004.

(2) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), a Commissioner shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons in respect of whom a recommendation has been made under subsection (3).

(3) The Minister shall request the Public Appointments Service to assess and select suitable candidates for appointment as a Commissioner in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Act of 2004 and, following such assessment and selection, to recommend individuals to the Minister for appointment.

(4) The Minister may, from time to time, specify requirements that he or she considers to be requirements that must be complied with by a candidate for appointment as a Commissioner; the Public Appointments Service, in performing its functions under subsection (3), shall satisfy itself that those requirements are complied with by a candidate.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), the requirements that may be specified by the Minister under that subsection include—

(a) the minimum period of practical experience, or type of practical experience, required of a candidate,

(b) the academic or professional qualifications to be possessed by a candidate, and

(c) subject to the Employment Equality Act 1998, the health and age of a candidate.

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the Minister may appoint as a Commissioner a person who, immediately before the establishment day, is serving as an Appeal Commissioner appointed in accordance with section 850 of the Act of 1997.

(7) Notwithstanding subsection (2), in the following circumstances, that is—

(a) a person has, in accordance with subsection (2), already been appointed as a Commissioner, and

(b) that person’s first term of office as Commissioner expires by passage of time,

then that person may be reappointed as a Commissioner by the Minister for a second term as provided for under section 13(3).

(8) A person shall not be appointed as a Commissioner for more than 2 consecutive terms of office.

(9) If the circumstances specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (7) apply in relation to a person but the person is not reappointed as a Commissioner under section 13(3), the Minister shall lay a statement before Dáil éireann giving the reason for not so reappointing the person.