Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I certainly approached the appointments to this board in the spirit of appointing the very best people to do the job of managing the agency with the CEO while being a strong board. I have looked for expertise that is appropriate to the running of an agency that has 4,000 staff who have transferred from other sections of the public service. This is a significant transition and a significant piece of public sector reform. I have certainly approached the appointment of the board in a manner that will lead to the very best expertise being available to the CEO and the staff of that organisation.

I refer to what the legislation says about the board. It states that the board shall be appointed from among persons who, in the Minister's opinion, have experience of and expertise in matters connected to the functions of the agency - in other words, the services that the agency is supplying.

Deputy Ó Caoláin makes the point about family support. I reiterate that I have put into the functions of the agency now, with one of the amendments I brought here last week, preventative family support services aimed at promoting the welfare of children. That is a strong statement about the agency - that it has a function in preventative family support services. That is now spelt out clearly in the legislation. I appreciate there was some anxiety because the Family Support Agency is now part of a bigger agency. I note the significant volume of work done by the Family Support Agency and the support it has given to family resource centres, whose work I hugely appreciate. The family resource centres are doing an extremely strong job around the country in different communities where there are significant needs at present. That is now copper-fastened in the functions of the agency. It is really important that it is there.

Going back to the board, I believe that those whom I have appointed and who should be appointed to this board are those who have the relevant experience in the range of areas the Deputy outlined. Effectively, we want board members who have experience of family support services, who understand large organisations and who can deal with the governance issues that will arise. For that reason, I have made the decisions on the basis of persons who have those skills. Anybody looking at the members of the board will appreciate their range of family support experience. I am reluctant to name individuals whom I have appointed in terms of the particular experience they bring. However, for example, the chairperson, Ms Norah Gibbons, has a significant record of experience in the areas mentioned - child protection, family support, therapeutic family support services. She certainly brings all of those skills. Quite a number of the other appointments I have made to the board are persons who have the experience that Deputies Ó Caoláin and Troy state ought to be on the board.

I am of the view that the amendment is too prescriptive and could create inflexibility. The function of the board is to oversee the activities of the agency. As such, the suggestion that the composition of the board should reflect each function of the agency is unnecessary and restrictive. One wants the correct balance of persons to be involved in the board at any given time and to run and work with the agency in an effective way. It is not necessary to be as prescriptive as the Deputies are being in their amendment.

At this stage, I have appointed eight of the nine members of the Family Support Agency board who will oversee the transition to the child and family agency and become the new agency's board upon establishment. I repeat that I am pleased with the calibre of the board membership. It brings together highly qualified and experienced members with a range of high-level skills, not only in the areas of child protection, family support and education and welfare but also in critical areas such as public sector reform, corporate governance, financial management, communications and change management, all of which are important when one is creating a new agency with this considerable staff of 4,000 which is separate from the HSE.

I will not be accepting this amendment. My bona fides in this matter have been well demonstrated. I conclude by saying that the Bill does not prevent the Minister from appointing board members from particular professional backgrounds if that is desired. Obviously, as I have said, some of the members of the board bring some of those professional backgrounds to their membership of the board.