Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to correct a previous answer I gave. The board will comprise a chair and five members. The process will be similar to that of most State boards in the country. It will be an open application process, through the Public Appointments Service. Advertisements will go out, people will apply and the criteria for the various board members would be stated. For example, as I said, two of the representatives have to be primary producers. The Public Appointments Service will make a recommendation to the Minister following an assessment and recruitment process. The Minister will then make appointments. That is what currently happens.

When I make appointments to State boards, I receive a list of ten people who have come through the recruitment process organised by the Public Appointments Service. There may be 50, 60 or 70 applications and the PAS assesses each person's criteria and credentials. It then conducts interviews, as appropriate, and sends a list of ten people to me, as Minister, which outlines the various credentials of each person. As Minister, I choose from those ten people, whatever number of appointments I need to make. The process for the new board will be similar.