Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 62: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the names of all persons nominated by him or by a Minister of State at his Department to any State appointment since 9 March 2011. [34985/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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There are no state boards and no state agencies operating under the aegis of my Department. There are three advisory committees and one commission operating under the auspices of my Department to which I or my colleagues make appointments. These are: the Ireland - United States Commission for Educational Exchange (the Fulbright Commission); the Development Education Advisory Committee, the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group, and the Emigrant Services Advisory Committee. Appointments to the Emigrant Services Advisory Committee the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group have been made during the period in question. In April 2011, I appointed the members of the Emigrant Services Advisory Committee (ESAC), for a term to run until 31 December 2012.

The primary role of the Emigrant Services Advisory Committee (ESAC) is to advise the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the allocation of grants to Irish community organisations in Britain under the Emigrant Support Programme. The Committee consists of thirteen members including two officers from our Embassy in London, who act as Chair and Secretary to the Committee. The additional eleven members of the committee serve in a voluntary capacity. After consultation with our Embassy in London and the Irish Abroad Unit in the Department, I made the following appointments to the Committee:

Mr. Michael Forde - Chairman of the Irish Diaspora Foundation (appointed 1999).

Mr. Séamus McGarry - Member of the Ireland Fund of Great Britain; Board of Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith (appointed 2004).

Mr. Jim O'Hara - Vice Chair, Irish Youth Foundation UK, Chair of Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith (appointed 1996).

Cllr. Sally Mulready - Councillor in the London Borough of Hackney; Irish Elderly Advice Network (appointed 2008).

Tony Cusack - Manager of Irish Centre in Leicester (appointed 2008).

Breege McDaid - Chief Executive, Irish Community Care Merseyside (appointed 2008).

Tony Corcoran - Tyneside Irish Festival and Secretary of the Tyneside Irish Centre (appointed 2008).

Des Hurley - Chief Executive, Irish Arts Foundation (appointed 2008).

Bridie Nugent - Board Member of the Irish Welfare and Information Centre in Birmingham (appointed 2009).

John Gormley Former President of the GAA in Britain (appointed 2011).

Joe Brown Chair of the Irish Travellers Movement (appointed 2011).

In July 2011, I appointed Ms. Nora Owen as Chairperson as a member of the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group. Also in July 2011, my colleague Minister of State for Trade and Development, Jan O'Sullivan, T.D., appointed Dr. Naomi Ngwira as a member of the Group.The Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group (IAEAG) was established in 2010 on foot of a recommendation contained in the Irish Aid Management Review adopted by the Government in 2009. The Group consists of seven members, six of whom are appointed directly by the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade and one on the nomination of the Department of Finance. The role of the Group is to offer independent expert advice to the Minister of State and myself on the strategic direction of the aid programme. The other members of the Advisory Group were appointed by the then Minister in July 2010 for a three year term.