Ms Sylda Langford:

At the moment, as I understand it, they have shortlisted the applications and the first interviews will take place possibly next week. If they need a second interview, it will follow quickly. Under the Acts the Minister can appoint the chief executive designate and, as a result, once the interviews are over, the person can be appointed before the board is established. The quicker we get the chief executive, the better we can get started. The committee will be aware that the Education Finance Board will cease to exist from the end of March and we must take over the existing responsibilities and liabilities. Therefore, the board must be set up before the end of March anyway. There are three staff associated with the board and they will move over to the new board.

One challenge for us is that under the legislation all the costs for running the board and the service must come from the fund. One of my aims is to run a lean and mean system in order that whatever funds we have are used on services. Since the residents have an entitlement to whatever services everyone else gets, we need to ensure that what the money is spent on does not substitute what they are entitled to anyway.

As part of the communication process, we need to establish liaison officers in all the State services. I expect we will need an advisory committee made up of people who work in State services in order that they can advise on the services available and any shortcomings in the current service. I have had only one week to think about it but we will need to work out criteria for the services and we must make certain decisions. Let us suppose there is a two year waiting list for something. Part of the fund might go to enable the residents to get access. Some 80% of people with an entitlement are over 50 years of age and we must ensure they get the services as quickly as possible.