Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senators will be aware that section 10(3) provides that the Minister shall designate one member of the board to be chairperson. The effect of Sinn Féin's amendment would be to provide that the chairperson would be elected by the board members. The chairperson of any State board holds an important position of trust and competence as head of the board which has responsibility for managing the institution and directing operations. He or she forms a very important link between the board and the Minister. The chairperson is chosen by the Minister from the members of the board. The members of the board have been appointed and each of them will have gone through the PAS system which is now applied to all boards within my remit.

Senators can rest assured that the chairperson will have all of the necessary skills which will have been agreed with the previous chairperson and that he or she will have acquired all of the skills to come through the system in the first place. Part 3 of the legislation states: "The chairperson and ordinary members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister, from among persons who, in the Minister’s opinion, have experience of, and expertise in matters connected to music, dance, the arts, finance, business, administration, marketing, fundraising, philanthropy, corporate governance, human resources or venue management". The PAS system requires a certain skill set for each national cultural institution and a lot of expertise in many areas before admission to the boards. The Minister will appoint the chairperson of the majority of State boards and the Public Appointments Service plays an important role in all board appointments. Under the new arrangements, all appointments to fill vacancies on State boards must be advertised on the State boards' websites. An independent panel assesses the applications received. We have recently received up to 90 applications from fantastic people. We have made two sets of appointments in the past while, the most recent being yesterday when two chairpersons appeared before the joint committee. The independent panel assesses all applications received and presents a shortlist to the Minister who makes the final decision.

The new transparent assessment process operated by the Public Appointments Service allows for applicants to indicate their interest in being appointed as chairperson and highlight the skills and experience they would bring to the position. They can tick a box to say they wish to be considered for the position of chairperson. This increases the information available to the Minister in making the decision. It is appropriate that the Minister of the day continue to appoint the chairperson of a public body such as the National Concert Hall because it is very important that the chairperson and the Minister have a good relationship. The chairperson is the key link with the Minister of the day. I, therefore, cannot accept the amendment.