Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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22. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide details of the criteria used to select the new board members of Ervia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3914/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Public Appointments Service (PAS), in conjunction with NewERA, managed the recent selection process for the filling of vacancies on the Board of Ervia in accordance with the "Guidelines on appointments to State Boards" published by the Government in November 2014. Four vacancies were advertised on the www.stateboards.iewebsite on 20 November 2014 and candidates were required to submit their application by the deadline of 3 December 2014.

Applications were sought from candidates with skills and experience in one or more of the following areas:

- Senior level in the water utility sector with an international focus, ideally with previous executive level operational experience in the sector;

- Senior level in the gas, electricity or telecoms utility sector with executive level experience of dealing with large scale customer facing systems (helpdesk, billing);

- Senior level in an organisation(s) with more than one thousand employees with executive level experience of dealing with transformational change within that/those organisations; and

- Senior level utility infrastructure (network) financing.

In addition to this experience, it was specified that applicants should also possess:

- Sound business judgment;

- Excellent communication skills;

- Proven ability to analyse information critically and constructively challenge;

- A strong sense of ethics and integrity;

- The ability to work effectively and cohesively as a member of a team; and

- An understanding of good governance practices.

There was a significant level of interest in the posts advertised and on conclusion of a rigorous selection process, involving NewERA's assistance, I made four appointments to the Ervia Board. All nine Ervia Board positions are now filled.