Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 445: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the number of appointments that have been made to State boards by him since he came to office, including the names of the appointees and the boards they have been appointed to; the number of these appointments that have been made using new procedures involving the advertising of such posts on his Department's websites and the interview of the chairperson of boards by Oireachtas committee; if he will highlight situations where this process has not occurred; and the reason it has not occurred in each case. [5043/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The information requested is outlined in the following table.

A notice was placed on my Department's website on 19 July, 2011 seeking expressions of interest, from suitably qualified and experienced persons, for consideration as members or chairpersons of the boards of state bodies under the aegis of my Department. The notice is updated regularly as specific vacancies arise.

Vacancies on the boards of other bodies under the Department's aegis will be notified on the website as they arise. However, expressions of interest can be made at any time and will be kept on file in my Department for consideration as vacancies occur.

All appointments are made in accordance with the appropriate legislation governing appointments to each body. In considering applications due regard is given to Government policy regarding gender balance on State Boards.

A number of different statutory processes are involved in appointments to State boards. In some cases statutory selection procedures must be followed or nominations must be sought from independent nominating panels before appointments are made by the Government or by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. In a number of situations, only some appointments to the body concerned are made by the Minister, or appointments are made with the consent of the Minister for Finance or following consultation with the Minister for Finance or Minister for Education and Skills, as appropriate.

The Boards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and An Bord Pleanála are executive in nature and members are employed on a full time salaried basis. The appointments as Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála and Director General of the EPA were made after competitions held by the Public Appointments Service.

Re-appointment of the chair of the Dormant Accounts Board will facilitate the orderly wind-up of the Board's affairs, following the enactment of the Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Bill 2011, which will transfer the statutory functions of the Dormant Accounts Board to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. The Bill has passed all stages in the Seanad; Dáil Second Stage is currently scheduled to resume on 7 February 2012.

The Chair of the Board for the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency (HSCA) has been re-appointed on an interim basis pending enactment of legislation in respect of the HSCA.

The following members were appointed to the Board of Pobal, a not for profit company under the aegis of my Department, by Government:

on 3 November 2011:

· Mr. Séamus Boland (Chair)

· Mr. Thomas Maguire

· Mr. Liam Keane

· Ms. Siobhan McLoughlin

on 11 January 2012:

· Ms. Jennifer McHugh

· Mrs. Mari Hurley

Before being formally appointed to the Radiological Protection Institute Ireland, Professor William Reville appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and Gaeltacht, on 23 November 2011.

My Department has put in place procedures whereby the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht will be notified of nominations as chair of State Bodies under the aegis of my Department prior to their appointment.

Chairs of State Bodies are in general available to appear before the relevant Oireachtas committees.