Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform 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. [13315/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In response to the Deputy's question the following appointments were made to bodies under the aegis of my Department.

An Post National Lottery

The position to which Mr Connell was re-appointed by me as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform was not advertised as under the National Lottery Act 1986, the majority shareholder of the National Lottery Company (i.e. An Post) nominates the person to fill this position. On 22nd November 2011, I re-appointed Mr Connell as chairman until 29th February 2012 in order to allow him time to appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance Public Expenditure and Reform. Mr Connell appeared before the Committee on 14th December 2011 and his re-appointment as Chairman has been ratified with effect from the 29th February 2012.

Civil Service Arbitration Board

The new procedures were not used in this case and the Chairman was not interviewed by Oireachtas.

The conciliation and arbitration scheme for the Civil Service, the Permanent Defence Forces, the Gardai and Teachers sets out the nomination process for the Board and its appointment by Government.

Public Appointments Service

The appointments were not made using the new procedures and the previous Chairman was reappointed to the role on the new board. The reason for not following the new procedures in relation to board appointments is that the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act, 2004 states that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (in consultation with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence) should appoint members of the Board of the Public Appointments Service.

The Board is meant to be representative of its client base i.e. (Government Departments and Public Service Bodies). The majority of the board are therefore civil or public servants, nominated by the relevant Minister. There is also a union representative nominated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). I reappointed the outgoing Chairman. I approved the appointment of the two external members because of their expertise in strategic change and public service recruitment respectively.

Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 91: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 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. [13313/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The following appointments were made to State boards. Forfás Mr John Murphy, Secretary General of the Department was appointed to the Board of Forfás with effect from 18 January 2012.

The Industrial Development legislation provides that the Director General of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) serves on the board of Forfás. Professor Mark Ferguson therefore became a member of the Forfás Board on taking up his position with SFI with effect from 18th January 2012. The SFI post is an ex officio appointment provided for in legislation. It has been the custom to appoint the Secretary General of the Department to the board of Forfás for reasons of policy cohesion and corporate governance. As such, the new procedures were not utilized in the case of either appointment.

National Standards Authority of Ireland Board (NSAI)

Helen Curley, a Principal Officer in my Department, was appointed on 8 July 2011. Ms Curley resigned from the Board on 15 November 2011, as due to an internal transfer she was no longer responsible for the NSAI policy area.

Ms Barbara O'Leary and Mr. Terry Landers were appointed on 6 March 2012. Both appointments were publicly advertised. Both applied through the advertised process. Competition Authority While it does not have a typical board structure, the Competition Authority consists of a Chairperson and up to four other members who act as an executive board. The Competition Acts 2002 to 2010 set out the requirements pertaining to appointments to the Authority. Chairperson: I re-appointed Mr Declan Purcell as Chairperson of the Competition Authority on 1 July 2011 and following his retirement, I subsequently appointed Ms Isolde Goggin as Chairperson following her selection by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) who publicly advertised this position. Members: I appointed Ms Noreen Mackey and Mr David McFadden as temporary members of the Authority in July 2011 and I subsequently re-appointed both from 1st October. On 9th August 2011, I re-appointed Mr Ciarán Quigley as a temporary member of the Authority. These temporary appointments were made in accordance with the Competition Acts 2002 to 2010 and did not require to be publicly advertised.

Advertisements for three full time members of the Competition Authority were published in June 2011 and following the completion of the PAS selection process for these posts I appointed Mr Stephen Calkins and Mr Gerald FitzGerald from December 2011 and Mr Patrick Kenny from January 2011.

Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority

Seven appointments were made to the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA). Mr Dave Martin and Mr. Kevin O'Donovan were both appointed as nominees of the Prescribed Accountancy Bodies on the 26 May 2011. Ms Sylvia McNeece of the Irish Pension Board, Ms. Deirdre Behan of the Revenue Commissioners, Ms. Mairead Devine of the Central Bank, Ms. Marie Daly of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and Mr. Sean Hawkshaw of the Irish Association of Investment Managers were all appointed as nominees of the Designated Bodies on the 3rd January 2012. As these appointments were made in compliance with the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 it was not appropriate to advertise the posts.

National Consumer Agency

Ms. Isolde Goggin was appointed to the Board of the National Consumer Agency in November 2011. While this appointment was not made using the new procedures Ms. Goggin's appointment as Chairperson of the Competition Authority and Chairperson designate of the new body which will be established on foot of the merger of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency reflects the Government's commitment to the rationalisation of State agencies.

PIAB

Two appointments were made to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB). One was the re-appointment of Ms Ann Fitzgerald in her capacity as Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency, which is a statutory position on the Board. Therefore the post was not advertised. In the case of the second appointment, it was considered appropriate to have a representative from the Department on the Board and Ms Breda Power, Assistant Secretary, was appointed. Given the nature of this appointment, the post was not advertised.

Science Foundation Ireland Dr. Rita Colwell and Professor Martina Newell-McGloughlin were both reappointed to the Board of Science Foundation Ireland with effect from 26th of July 2011. Dr Colwell and Professor Newell-McGloughlin are internationally renowned scientific experts in the Life Sciences and Biotechnology sectors. As the Minister considered it appropriate to re-appoint them to the Board, the vacancies were not publicly advertised.

InterTrade Ireland

The InterTradeIreland Board expired on the 12th December 2011. Minister Richard Bruton nominated four new members to that Board. These members included the following: Mr. Martin Cronin Chairman; Mr. Philip Doherty; Mr. Kevin Norton; Ms. Mairead Sorenson. These four members were subsequently appointed to the Board on the 13th December, 2011 by the North South ministerial Council. Mr. Philip Doherty did not take up his membership on the Board, and an alternative is currently being sought. Both Mr. Brendan Butler and Ms. Patricia McKeown who served on the last Board were re-appointed on the 13th December, 2011. Shannon Development:

Mr. Stephen Curran, Principal Officer, was appointed to my Department on 09 January 2012 and was subsequently appointed to the Board of Shannon Development on 23 February 2012. This appointment was a direct replacement of Mr. Bob Keane, Principal Officer, who transferred from the Department to a position in Brussels and subsequently resigned from the Board. This appointment did not fall under the new procedures as Mr Curran is the Departmental representative on the Board.

IDA

I recently made the following two appointments to the Board of the IDA: Alan W. Gray and Mary Campbell.

The Deputy will be aware that Government policy is to introduce greater transparency in the appointment process. In line with this policy and in an effort to broaden the pool of suitable candidates for consideration for appointment to boards, I sought expressions of interest last summer from suitably qualified people for appointment to the boards of several agencies under my Department's remit. I also made it clear in advertising those vacancies that I would not be restricted to only those who responded to the advert. In the case of IDA Ireland, neither appointment was made using the new procedures. Ms Mary Campbell was identified following consultations with IDA Ireland to nominate a person with relevant international financial experience for my consideration for appointment to the Board.

I intend to launch another expressions of interest campaign in the near future in respect of further vacancies that have arisen or that are due to arise over the coming months. In this respect, my overriding focus is to find the best people for particular board appointments. In making appointments I will have regard to the expertise and experience of individuals, the balance of skills and attributes in terms of the overall composition of the board, the gender balance of the board and the availability and commitment of people to serve on the board.