Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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244. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the process and procedure for the appointment of persons (details supplied) to the compliance committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland; if he will confirm the written, or oral, representations he, his officials, or his advisers, received on two named persons' behalf, supporting their appointment; if he will confirm whether a Minister, or a junior Minister, made representations on behalf of either of the two named persons, to him; the reason these new appointments fell outside the new requirement for a public recruitment process for State boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8650/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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245. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he appointed any persons to the board of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland without a recruitment competition; if so, the reason for same; if he is satisfied that all persons on the compliance committee of the board of the authority have no conflicts of interest, in adjudicating complaints made against broadcasters in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8721/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 244 and 245 together.

The recent appointments to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Compliance Committee were made by the Government in accordance with Section 8 of the Broadcasting Act 2009.

The appointment of members to the Compliance Committee (a statutory Committee) does not come within the new arrangements on Appointments to State Boards. No representations were made to me, my advisors or my officials on behalf of the two named individuals supporting their appointment.

With regard to the appointments to the BAI, I issued a press release last October notifying my intention to fill a number of pressing board vacancies in advance of the new arrangements for appointments to State Boards becoming fully operational. A copy of the press release is available on my Department's website.

In the case of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), there are a number of statutory measures in place governing conflicts of interest that may arise in the course of the work of both the Authority and its Committees and providing for transparency, accountability and independence. Section 23 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 obliges the Authority to draw up and adopt a Code of Conduct in respect of controls on interests and ethical behaviour to apply to each member of the Authority, statutory committee, advisory committee and members of staff. Section 24 of the 2009 Act states that the Authority shall be independent in the performance of its functions.

The revised Code was approved by the Authority in November 2013 on the recommendation of the Finance Audit and Risk Committee and is available on the website of the BAI. 

The Code contains a number of specific provisions governing matters of conflict of interest. In addition, members of the statutory Authority and Committees are subject to the obligations placed on them by the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Acts, 1995 and 2001. Authority and Committee members are also subject to Sections 21 and 22 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, which provides for the disclosure of any conflicts of interest. In addition, Section 20 of the Broadcasting Act places duties of accountability to Oireachtas Committees on the Chief Executive, Chairperson of the Authority and the Chairpersons of the Statutory Compliance and Contract Awards Committees.