Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the system of appointing members of State boards.
The practice of appointments made with a nod and wink to State boards has no place in our open modern democracy and could damage our economic recovery. We all are in agreement that it is time to end the parish pump system of appointments once and for all and to ensure that the agencies of the State have boards with experience, talent and skills to guide them in the delivery of services to the people. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Howlin, on his commitment to and work towards this, some of which he outlined in his speech.
I have two concerns that I want to put into this debate. The first one has to do with the diversity of backgrounds of those on State boards. The Minister has made a commitment to this, and there is a certain expression of that, both in what he stated today and also in the guidelines. However, I want to emphasise it and to ask some questions about it. We need persons of all backgrounds and from every section of society on State boards, and people of such diversity of backgrounds should be encouraged to apply. We need to get persons on boards with backgrounds ranging from community activism and public service to business or the arts. Such skills are needed to ensure that we have effective health, transport and education systems for the people, as well as expertise in job creation through investment, promotion of small business, and development of arts, sports and tourism.
I note, and the Minister also indicated, that access is a key objective in widening the pool in the appointment to State boards. Of course, I welcome the ongoing commitment and the specification, in terms of both gender equality and commitments to backgrounds, and also the note in the guidelines, if it is at 40%, to move it to 45% because 40% has been there for many years and there is no reason not to increase it. That is all good. I guess I am wondering about a commitment to, how to encourage and how to assess wider diversity of background. I also note in the guidelines the Minister commits to review the new model which he is putting in place which I think is excellent. No doubt the database will support that. That is part of the guidelines. In the database, as to what they are tracking, there might be some room for tracking types of diversity other than gender. That may be a way in which one could encourage that.
I welcome the website, stateboards.ie. I visited it today and it looks good. It provides an opportunity to break the golden circles. However, there is a need to increase awareness of the website. I am aware from my own communities in Tallaght, there is energetic community activism and a wide range of skills in the hospital, the institute of technology, high-tech business, the strong arts community and many more areas. I am sure all of us can speak about that from the places where we live and work. Those areas of people in Tallaght can provide persons of skill and ability who would be willing to give of their time to benefit their country but I suspect many of them are not aware of the website or the system of advertising vacancies. It would be helpful if the Government outlines how, beyond traditional journalism, it will reach out beyond political insiders to get persons involved. That would be my first area of concern on which the Minister might elaborate.
The second area has to do with remuneration in State boards. It is important to place on record that I am not opposed to remuneration for those who give of their time and provide service for the greater good. However, I am already on record here in October last in outlining my concerns about the disparity in the level of remuneration between the various boards. In October last, I was able to place in the public domain a partial list of remuneration offered to chairs and board members thanks to the research carried out by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. For example, the chair of Bord Bia receives €20,520, and the chair of Horse Racing Ireland receives €21,600, while board members each receive €12,600. In the arts sector, the chair of the National Gallery receives €8,978 and all the board chairpersons of arts bodies receive approximately the same amount. The chair of the Adoption Authority receives €63,000. The Mining Board pays daily fees of €582.97. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority pays remuneration of €20,520 to its chair. We heard yesterday that the chair of Ervia is getting €31,500 a year while other board members receive €15,570.
We need to know how the figures are reached. I selected these random examples to demonstrate the degree of diversity that exists but, I suppose, the biggest surprise from my research comes from the Department of Education and Skills where there is only one board and chair in receipt of remuneration, namely, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, at €7,695. No other chairs or members of State boards in the Department of Education and Skills are remunerated according to the list that was developed. We need to raise questions with regard to the rationale for that, and the importance of those who contribute their time and qualifications to State boards in education. I suppose I am saying that while I am not against the payments, we need to know the rationale behind them and why the gaps between the various bodies are so wide. I also note that on the database there is no notification that one would also include remuneration in relation to the different State boards.
Those are the two primary areas I want to raise today. We need transparency on State boards. It is an important part of the change and I welcome the Minister's commitment to it.