(1) The Financial Services Ombudsman Council shall, whenever the occasion requires, appoint one or more suitably qualified persons to be Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman. However, if a person has been appointed as a Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman or as a Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman designate before the commencement of this section, that person is taken to have been appointed by the Council under this subsection.
(2) Subject to Schedule 7, a person appointed as a Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman holds office for such period, not exceeding 6 years, as is specified in the document of appointment.
(3) Such a person is eligible for reappointment at the end of a period of office.
(4) A person is not eligible for appointment as a Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman if the person -
(a) is a member of either House of the Oireachtas or is, with the person's consent, nominated as a candidate for election as such a member, or
(b) is a member of the European Parliament or is