The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 888A:

''888B.

(1) A company may, when delivering its annual return under this Act, submit information to the Registrar in the prescribed form in relation to the composition of its board of directors by reference to gender.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Registrar shall provide any information submitted under subsection (1) to the Minister.

(3) Information provided to the Minister under subsection (2) shall exclude any information that may identify or could reasonably lead to the identification of an individual or a company.

(4) The Minister may publish information provided under subsection (2) in such form and manner as the Minister considers appropriate.

(5) Any information submitted by a company to the Registrar under this section shall not form part of the annual return of the company.''.