Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her questions. This is a new and groundbreaking departure which has not happened in the history of the State before. We now have a very open, accessible way for any citizen in the State to apply to be a member of a State board and for an independent evaluation of that person's suitability to be a member of a State board on the basis of the set published criteria. That is a very important new development. We have been working on the system for some time in the Department and many people commented on the convenient fact that we had a fleshed-out, ready proposal to meet the requirements and bring to Government as expeditiously as we did. The Deputy asked about the timeline for its development. It will be little bit of time before the website is fully populated with every single State board and each Minister determines the specific criteria for each board.

I hope that we can have that up and running from 1 November, as the Government has promised. Having handled legislation with the Deputy opposite for a number of years, I know she is anxious for a review of such processes. It is suggested, therefore, that in about 18 months we will look to see if this is working as effectively as we would like or whether it requires any further change.

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