Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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178. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of appointments made to State boards under his Department's remit since March 2011; the number of positions that have been advertised; the number of applications to the boards; the number of appointments to the board that were drawn from the applications; the current number of vacancies on each board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28979/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since coming to Office I have made 71 appointments to the State Boards under my aegis. It should be noted that of these, only 24 of these were new appointments made at my discretion. 9 were reappointments, and the remaining 38 were allocated under legislation to Department Representatives, social partners, nominees of other Ministers, nominees of prescribed bodies and appointments on an Ex Officio basis and were not appropriate, therefore, for public advertisement.

Of the 24 new appointments made at my discretion, I have made 15 appointments to State Boards arising directly from applications from the public.

A breakdown by type and details of all appointments made by me to the State Agencies under the aegis of my Department since taking office, are listed in the tables.

The position in relation to current vacancies in respet of each Agency is also presented.

Breakdown of the State Board appointments made since March 2011

There are currently no vacancies on the Board of the Labour Relations Commission

Forfás*

*The membership of the Forfas Board was reduced to an executive style board, with effect from 5th October 2012, to facilitate the integration of Forfas with the Department. The remaining Board members will continue in situ, to oversee the integration process.

Enterprise Ireland

Since March 2011, three positions were advertised from which 45 applications were received. One appointment from the applications was subsequently made. There is currently one vacancy.

*In accordance with Section 9 of the Industrial Development Act, (Enterprise Ireland) 1998, on each anniversary of the establishment day (23rd July, 1998), two members of the Board (other than the chairperson and the chief executive officer) shall retire from office. The members to retire in any year shall be those who have been longest in office since their appointment.

InterTradeIreland

InterTrade Ireland currently has one vacancy on the ITI Board for which I will make a nomination to the North South Ministerial Council in due course.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board

A vacancy in respect of a Ministerial Appointment arose on the board in early 2012. An advertisement was posted on the Public Appointments Service website for filling of the vacant post. In response to the advertisement, a total of six expressions of interest were received. The applications were assessed by staff from the Department and the Public Appointment Service and the shortlisting for Ministerial appointment were agreed. Arising from this shortlist, Ms Muireann O’Neill was the Ministerial nominee.

There are currently no vacancies on the board of IAASA.

Shannon Development

Following the Government decision to merge Shannon Development with Shannon Airport it was agreed that there would be commonality in filling the vacancies of both boards until such time as the new entity is in place. It was intended that such appointments would maximise synergies between the two entities until such time as the merger is confirmed. Hence these appointments were made on the basis of the expertise and knowledge of the nominees. There is currently one vacancy on the Shannon Development Board.

National Consumer Agency

Expressions of interest were sought in 2011 and 2012 in respect of vacancies that arose. In 2011, 113 applications were received and no appointments were made. In 2012, 38 applications were received and three persons were appointed. There are currently two vacancies on the Board.

IDA Ireland

Since March 2011, one vacancy on the board has been advertised following which 78 applications were received. No appointment from the applications received was subsequently made. The IDA Board currently has one vacancy.

Science Foundation Ireland

*Section 9.3 of the 2003 Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Act 2003 determines that each year (on anniversary of formal establishment of SFI – 25th July 2003) that the two longest serving members of the Board shall retire from the Board with effect from July 24th each year. However, there is also a stipulation in the legislation that a member cannot serve more than ten years in succession.

In 2012, one vacancy was filled after Public Appointments Service advertisement following which 19 applications were received. At present there are no vacancies on the SFI Board athough three vacancies will arise in late July 2013. These are currently on the Public Appointments Service website.