Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I assure both Deputies that the new Government is highly committed to the principle of having transparency in respect of the appointments being made to State boards. Both parties to the Government have identified this in their respective election manifestoes and in the programme for Government. It has been highlighted as an issue with which the new Government intends to deal at an early stage in the context of a reform agenda. This issue is in receipt of early attention at present. As we speak, policy is evolving in this area and proposals will be brought forward shortly on how best to ensure there is close public scrutiny of all appointments made to State boards. The Government is absolutely committed to the principle of having transparency in this regard and everyone has learned lessons from the mistakes that were made in the past. While concrete policies have not yet been put in place, this will be announced shortly in the context of the aforementioned reform agenda.

I wish to make some points regarding the board under discussion at present. The board will comprise 23 members, of whom 11 will be nurses or midwives and 12 who will not be nurses or midwives. An important balance has been struck and agreement was reached in this regard. As for how these nominations will be made, of the 11 nurses or midwives, two will be nominated by third level colleges, one nurse and one midwife, one director of nursing or midwifery will be chosen from the Minister from a list compiled by the HSE in accordance with the procedures specified by the Minister. Eight will be elected by the various professions and there will one general nurse, one children's nurse, one psychiatric nurse, one intellectual disability nurse, one midwife, one public health nurse, one nurse engaged in the education of nurses or midwives and who is employed in the public health sector, as well as one nurse engaged in the care of older people. Twelve board members will not be nurses and midwives and again the composition of these 12 members is prescribed. There will be one medical practitioner, who will be nominated by the Medical Council, one to be nominated by the Minister for Education and Skills, two to be nominated by the HSE, one to be nominated by the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, one to be nominated by HIQA and one who will be from the voluntary sector.

This will leave five public interest members to be appointed by the Minister. Consequently, the ministerial appointees constitute a small minority of the membership, namely, five members out of 23. As for the aforementioned five public interest members appointed by the Minister, it is open to the Minister to advertise these positions to the public, which is what is being considered by the Minister at present. The Government and its spokespersons already have given commitments to advertise such appointments on, for example, the relevant Department's website or in the national media. This is one option, while another is to use the Public Appointments Service to assist in the selection of suitable members. This is under active consideration by the Minister at present and one or other of these options will be chosen in due course. I wish to make clear that the Government is committed to the principles that have been outlined by the Members opposite. The Government made an issue of this question at an early stage after the election and we are determined to bring transparency to all appointments to public boards. This is how we intend to proceed in respect of the five remaining public interest members who are not nominated by relevant public bodies.

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