Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the witnesses, especially Dr. Ó Broin, to this meeting. I have no doubt, having listened to the details of his curriculum vitae, that he has the vast experience that is required to lead Pobal over the next few years. Politicians may end up as policy makers and legislators but fundamentally, like Dr. Ó Broin, we come from our communities where we were activists. We were grounded in our communities and were working with those in most need. I acknowledge Dr. Ó Broin's attributes and look forward to him leading Pobal in the time ahead. It is not only his voluntary and community activism that I want to acknowledge but also his professional experience, his involvement at various levels with chambers of commerce, in academia and in social enterprise. I am impressed by his curriculum vitae and wish him well as he leads Pobal in the years ahead.

As chairman of Pobal, Dr. Ó Broin will have enormous responsibility. In 2017, Pobal allocated approximately €615 million to various development programmes and community projects around the country. I am delighted to hear that Dr. Ó Broin intends to have strong oversight and accountability in relation to how Pobal does its business. I have only one question for Dr. Ó Broin before wishing him well in his new role. In terms of the allocation process, as with so many governmental organisations and institutions, there is an historic way of doing business. Does Dr. Ó Broin have any plans to evaluate previous Pobal allocations to determine their impact on communities and to make any changes or reforms necessary on foot of that to maximise the impact of funding allocations across the various headings, including social inclusion, equality, assisting families and young people and so on? I look forward to Dr. Ó Broin's response and wish him well.