Mr. Tom Coughlan:

It is the biggest organisation of which I have been chair but I have been chief executive of Clare County Council, which has 1,000 employees and is a multifunctional organisation with a significant budget. I also have a background in corporate governance and have qualifications in that subject.

I applied for the position having retired about a year ago, after 40 years in local government. I felt, however, that I was too young to fully retire and that I had more to give. I had a knowledge of the public sector, which I could continue to use in order to make a contribution, and I was very interested in taking up either a board position or a chair position which would allow me to do that. When I was appointed as chief executive of Clare County Council, one of my priorities was health and safety and I embedded health and safety into the organisation. There was a particular reason for doing that and Clare County Council won the national award during my term for health and safety in a local authority. I integrated health and safety into performance monitoring and development so health and safety was an area in which I was particularly interested. When the chair and board positions were advertised, I applied because I had a genuine interest in the area.

The position was advertised and I had to submit a CV. I had to make a comprehensive submission on how I met the requirements of the position. I had also to say why I felt I would be a good chair of the Health and Safety Authority and my background knowledge of health and safety, my corporate governance knowledge, my managerial knowledge and my change management knowledge were included in the covering letter I submitted with my CV. I applied to the Public Appointments Service and went through its process, to which I am not a party and on which I cannot, therefore, comment. I was, however, delighted to be advised by the Department that I had been recommended as chair.