Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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588. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the State boards, bodies or committees on which vacancies currently exist or on which vacancies are anticipated to arise up to and including 1 January 2016; the number of vacancies in each case; when the vacancy arose or will arise; if the vacancy relates to a chair or a member; if he will provide details of the appointment process in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18477/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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In the case of certain appointments to State Boards, statutory selection procedures must be followed or nominations must be sought from independent nominating panels before appointments are made by the Minister or the Government, as appropriate. In addition, in the case of a number of boards, not all of the appointments to the body concerned are made by the Minister, and in some situations appointments are made by the Minister with the consent of another Minister. Furthermore, appointments to An Bord Pleanála and to the Board of the Environmental Protection Agency are of a full-time executive nature and are governed by statutory processes. In line with a recent Government Decision, a Revised Model for Ministerial Appointments to State Boards, brought forward by my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, has been put in place, operating through the Public Appointments Service, and will govern relevant future appointments.

The table below outlines Board vacancies up to and including 1 January 2016. These include one position of Chair, that being the Chair of the Local Government Management Agency.

** This vacancy is in the process of being filled by a nominee from the Local Government Sector.

*** Article 33 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Pobal states “at each Annual General Meeting one-quarter of the Directors of the Company shall be required to retire with effect from the end of the meeting (or if their number is not four or a multiple of four then the number nearest one-quarter, subject to the term of office of any individual not exceeding 4 years)”. On that basis, it may be necessary for some Directors to retire prior to the end of their term of office.

The Board of the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency is appointed by the Minister, including the following: Chairperson appointed by the Minister; One serving officer of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government; One serving officer of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; Two members nominated by the County and City Management Association; One person nominated by the Irish Council for Social Housing; The CEO of the Agency; Not more than two other persons as the Minister considers appropriate.

The legislative basis for the appointments is set out in the Housing And Sustainable Communities Agency (Establishment) Order 2012.

The Board of the Private Residential Tenancies Board consists of not less than nine and not more than fifteen members appointed by the Minister. Members shall be persons who in the Minister’s opinion have experience in a field of expertise relevant to the Board’s functions. The legislative basis for the appointments is set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

Appointments of the Local Authority Chief Executive members of the Board of the Local Government Management Agency (between 6 and 8 members) are made by the County and City Chief Executives collectively. In addition, the Minister may appoint not less than one and not more than four members. Of these Ministerial appointments, at least one but not more than three must be serving officers of the Minister’s Department. The legislative basis for the appointments is set out in the Local Government Management Agency (Establishment) Orders 2012 to 2013.

In addition, although not a state Board in the traditional sense, appointments to the Board of Pobal, a not-for-profit company, fall to be made by the Government. The Board consists of 16 members appointed by Government. In making appointments, the Government shall have regard for persons with significant expertise and participation in local, urban and rural development, social inclusion, community development and equality issues; persons with significant expertise and participation in business, trade unions, financial management, social / economic policy, and appraisal of strategic plans/grant applications; gender equality; appropriate geographical spread covering both urban and rural communities.

In making appointments, the Government shall consider proposals from stakeholders and the Social Partners. The basis for making appointments is set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Pobal.