Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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116. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the number of appointments to State boards under her Department's remit made since March 2011 to date in 2013; the number of vacancies in State boards under her Department's remit since March 2011 to date in 2013; the number of vacancies in State boards under her Department's remit publically advertised since March 2011 to date in 2013; and the number of appointments to State boards under her remit drawn directly from the public advertisement process. [50019/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Board, the Pensions Ombudsman (which does not have a board) and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Details of appointments to the Boards and vacancies advertised since March 2011 are set out in the following table:

**There are currently two vacancies on the Citizens Information Board. Appointments will be made in accordance with the legislation on completion of the selection process.

***The Public Service Reform Programme provided for a critical review of the integration of the regulatory functions of the Pensions Board with the Financial Regulator and the merging of the Pensions Ombudsman with the Financial Services Ombudsman. The recommendations arising out of the Critical Review on the Pensions Board were approved by Government in April 2013 and were provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2013.

It was recommended that the governance structure of the Pensions Board be restructured with two distinct arms as follows:

- Oversight of the Pensions Board will be undertaken by a three person body called the Pensions Authority. This will consist of a Chairperson and two officials from the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Finance.

- A separate unpaid Pensions Council, with a majority of members representing consumer interests, will be established to advise me on pensions policy.

I expect to appoint the Chairperson of the Pensions Authority shortly. I intend to call for expressions of interest for the appointment to the Pensions Council through the Public Appointments Service. In relation to the Pensions Ombudsman, the Report recommended that this office be merged with the Financial Service Ombudsman and arrangements in relation to the implementation of this recommendation are under active consideration.

****The revised Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies does not apply to the Social Welfare Tribunal due to its structure and purpose.