Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will provide a list of all appointments to State boards made by him, including any appointments to the position of chairperson shown separately; if the vacancies on the boards were publicly advertised; who out of any appointments made applied through the publicly advertised process, and the prospective nominees that went before the Oireachtas committee for questioning. [13307/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The bodies under the aegis of my Department are the Civil Defence Board, the Army Pensions Board and the Board of Coiste an Asgard. The Civil Defence Act 2002 provides that the Board shall consist of at least eight but not more than fourteen members who shall be appointed by the Minister for Defence. Legislation is currently being drafted to dissolve the Civil Defence Board and transfer the functions of the Board back into the Department of Defence. I appointed the current Board as an interim measure from 11 July 2011. Membership of the interim Board appointed from 11 July 2011 is set out in the table.

The Army Pensions Board is an independent statutory body established under the Army Pensions Act, 1927. The Act specifies that the Board shall consist of a chairman and two ordinary members. The two ordinary members must be qualified medical practitioners of whom one must be an officer of the Army Medical Corps. The chairman and the non military ordinary member are appointed by the Minister for Defence with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance. The Army Medical Corps ordinary member is appointed by the Minister for Defence on the recommendation of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

The position of Army Medical Corps ordinary member recently became vacant due to retirement, and I have appointed Commandant Adam Lagun to the Board on the recommendation of the Chief of Staff. As the Army Pensions Act 1927 specifies that one of the ordinary members must be an officer of the Army Medical Corps, this position was not publicly advertised. Details of Commandant Lagun's appointment to the Army Pensions Board were published in the Iris Oifigiúl on 13 January 2012.

No appointments have been made to the Board of Coiste an Asgard since I took office as Minister for Defence. In the context of settling the Estimates for the Department of Defence for 2010, the Government decided that the national sail training scheme operated by Coiste an Asgard would be discontinued as recommended in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure. As a result, no funding has been provided since 2010. No appointments have been made since that decision was taken and the Board will be dissolved shortly.

Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a list of all appointments to State boards made by him, including any appointments to the position of chairperson shown separately; if the vacancies on the boards were publicly advertised; who out of any appointments made applied through the publicly advertised process, and the prospective nominees that went before the Oireachtas committee for questioning. [13303/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Since May of 2011 all vacancies on the State Boards that fall under my Department's remit are listed on the Department's website. Board appointments to a number of the bodies and agencies are not always made at my sole discretion. Instead, individuals are nominated for appointment by various organisations, specified in the relevant statute. These include the Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board, Teagasc, National Milk Agency, Veterinary Council and Horse Racing Ireland.

There have been a number of appointments to State Boards during my tenure details of which can be found in the accompanying table. My Department also received a number of general applications for positions on any of the boards in question. The Chairs appointed have yet to be called before the relevant Oireachtas committee but are aware of this requirement.