Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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658. To ask the Minister for Health if he will indicate, in respect of State boards under his Department's remit, the name of each appointee appointed from 7 March 2011 to date in 2015; the date of each appointment; whether or not each appointee came through an advertised public application process; the number of vacancies that presently exist on State boards under his remit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37364/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The nomination and appointment process for boards of bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out in legislation. In line with Government Decision S180/20/10/1617 of 2014 and Guidelines set out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform relating to the advertising for expressions of interest in vacancies on State Boards, my Department in conjunction with the Public Appointments Service currently advertises for board vacancies as they arise, where I, as Minister for Health, have nominating rights under relevant legislation. I also appoint members on the nomination of various bodies, again in accordance with the relevant legislation.

There have been over 600 appointments made under the aegis of my Department since 2011, and my officials are compiling a list of all appointments with the date of appointment and details of whether the person came through the appointment process. This information will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

The table sets out the current number of vacancies on State Boards under the remit of my Department:

The expressions of interest notice for membership of the Food Safety Authority is being developed in conjunction with the Public Appointments Service (PAS). I am about to sign the Appointment Orders for the 3 members of the Health Research Board, who have been selected as a result of a PAS campaign. The 3 vacancies on the Radiographers Registration Board must be nominated by an election process among registrants and this process is underway. The Department awaits the names of nominees from the Medical Board of the Hospital and a Union representative to provide to me for appointment. The person I have selected as a result of the PAS process to sit on the VHI Board is being cleared by the Central Bank of Ireland and should be appointed shortly.