Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a list of all appointments to State boards, including any appointments to the position of chairperson shown separately, she has made since coming to office; the details of any remuneration or expenses arrangement that applies in respect of each appointment; the vacancies on the boards that had been publicly advertised; and the prospective nominees that went before the Oireachtas committee for questioning. [29273/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board. In addition, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department but it does not have a board. Much of the information requested by the Deputy in relation to the boards of the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board is available on the Department's website www.welfare.ie/EN/AboutUs/Pages/stateagencies.aspx and is updated as required.

Social Welfare Tribunal

The Social Welfare Tribunal consists of a Chairman and four ordinary members, all members were appointed on 5th October 2009 and are not due for renewal until 4th October 2012.

Citizens Information Board

I have made one appointment to the Citizens Information Board since coming into office, that of Mr Eugene McErlean who was appointed with effect from 7 September 2011. This followed my public request for expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced individuals announced on 22 July 2011. In addition to the fee paid to appointees details of which are also contained in the link above, board members are entitled to claim such travel and subsistence as is necessary to facilitate them to attend board and/or other committee meetings and events deemed appropriate in line with the provisions of the Department of Finance travel and subsistence circulars. There is no arrangement in place for prospective nominees of the Citizens Information Board to go before an Oireachtas committee for questioning.

Pensions Board

The Pensions Board is a representative body and the composition of its membership is set out in the Pensions Act 1990. The Board must comprise representatives of;

· Trade Union Members,

· Employers,

· Occupational Pension Schemes,

· The Actuarial Profession,

· The Accounting Profession,

· The Legal Profession,

· Consumer Interests,

· Pensioner Interests,

· The Minister for Finance, and

· The Minister for Social Protection.

While all of its members are appointed by me, the Pensions Act 1990 provides that of the 16 members, eight are nominated by representative bodies. These eight members represent the first six of the interests set out above. This comprises two representatives each of the trade union and employer groups and one representative each of the occupational pension schemes, the actuarial, accounting and legal professions. There is no change proposed in these arrangements. A new Board was appointed on 21st December 2010 for a period of five years. There is currently one vacancy on the Pensions Board to be filled by a nominating body.