Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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601. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of appointments to State boards under the remit of his Department that were made as a result of applications made through the www.publicjobs.ie website in the last three years; the number of board posts that were advertised on www.publicjobs.ie; the number of board posts that were not advertised on the website but instead were directly appointed; and the average pay to directly appointed board members. [4590/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The State Boards under the aegis of the Department of Defence when the Government took office were the Civil Defence Board, the Army Pensions Board and the Board of Coiste an Asgard.

The Civil Defence Board was identified in the Public Service Reform Plan as a body to be abolished. I appointed an interim Board as a temporary measure in 2011 and in this context none of the positions were advertised. Legislation to dissolve the Board was passed by the Oireachtas in December 2012. Its functions have now transferred back to the Department of Defence. There was no remuneration attached to membership of the Civil Defence Board.

There were no appointments to the Board of Coiste an Asgard from 2009. 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. The formal wind up of the Company including voluntary strike off with the Companies Registration Office was completed in early 2013. There was no remuneration attached to membership of the Board of Coiste an Asgard.

The only body currently under the aegis of my Department is the Army Pensions Board. The Board comprises 3 members: a chairman, a civilian medical doctor and an officer of the Army Medical Corps. There have been two appointments to the Army Pensions Board since March 2011. A serving officer was appointed to the position of Army Medical Corps member of the Board in December 2011, and a civilian doctor was appointed as ordinary member in November 2013. The civilian doctor vacancy was advertised on my Department’s website and the Public Appointments Service website. Neither of these board members receives remuneration in respect of their membership of the Army Pensions Board. The chairperson of the Army Pensions Board is entitled to annual fees of €7,618.