Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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375. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding State board appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37637/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Government recently announced a revised model for appointments to State Boards. In future, all such appointments must be advertised openly on the State Boards portal at , which is operated by the Public Appointments Service. These new arrangements will apply to all appointments other than those where vacancies must be filled through a particular process or where a Minister is reappointing a Board member where that member has already demonstrated their capacity to perform effectively. Applications will be processed by way of a transparent assessment system designed and implemented on an independent basis by the Public Appointments Service.

Appointments must meet the specific and detailed criteria determined by the relevant Minister as necessary for effectively performing the duties of a member of the particular Board.

Appointments will remain the exclusive responsibility of the relevant Minister in line with the statutory requirements relating to the appointment of specific persons to State Boards on an ex-officio basis, or on the basis of nominations received from other Ministers or particular stakeholders.

The revised approach strengthens requirement to develop comprehensive criteria for the filling of vacancies on State Boards in consultation with key stakeholders as determined by the relevant Minister, such as the current Chair of the State Board concerned and the Public Appointments Service.

Ministers will be expected to provide the Public Appointments Service with the key requirements that a candidate must meet, including:

- Specialist skills and technical knowledge;

- Relevant experience and sectoral expertise;

- Relevant qualifications; and

- Particular personal attributes.

My officials are currently preparing guidelines on appointments to State Boards for approval by Government, including issues related to diversity. As part of this process all Departments have been contacted seeking comprehensive details on all State Boards under their aegis.

The new arrangements also provide that the stateboards.ie website, as well as being the sole portal for the receipt of applications for all State Boards, will also contain definitive and current information on all statutory boards. This material will be published on stateboards.ie in the near future.