Written answers

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Department of Health

Appointments to State Boards

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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467. To ask the Minister for Health the number of appointments to State boards under the aegis of his Department and the number of appointments that have been advertised on his Department's website since March 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46256/15]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo 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. The notices about forthcoming vacancies are advertised on the stateboards.iewebsite and are also placed on my Department's website.

There have been over 700 appointments made under the aegis of my Department since March 2011, of which 360 positions where filled through the advertising process. There are some exceptions to the advertising process. For example, the members of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal are appointed by the Minister, on the advice of the Attorney General, as these members carry out a very specific role in relation to assessing the quantum of awards under the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act. In 2012 and 2013 in the case of some hospital boards, e.g. Beaumont and St James’s, the term of existing members was extended as a prudent provisional measure, to allow time for appropriate competencies required in members of these boards to be set out, given the Health Reform Programme and its impact on hospital configuration. Appointments of the new board members were subsequently advertised.

Many appointments have been made on the nomination of other bodies as specified in legislation, or were re-appointments. It should be noted that there were no advertising campaigns in 2011, but 34 appointments were made where the Minister had nominating rights. It should also be noted that there are several campaigns ongoing with appointments pending.

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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468. To ask the Minister for Health the number of chairpersons appointed to State boards under the aegis of his Department who have appeared before the relevant Oireachtas joint committee since March 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46271/15]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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On 30 September 2014 the Government announced further substantial reforms to the appointment system for Board members, building on the model established in 2011, under which all appointments should:

a) be advertised openly on the State Boards website portaloperated by the Public Appointments Service (PAS);

b) meet specific and detailed criteria determined necessary for the effective performance of the Board; and

c) be processed by way of a transparent assessment system designed and implemented by the independent Public Appointments Service (PAS).

The Guidelines published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in 2014 also stated that persons being proposed by Ministers for appointment as Chairpersons of State Bodies/Agencies were required to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children to discuss the approach they would take in their role as Chairperson and their views about the future contribution of the body or Board in question, before they would be formally appointed by the Minister.

Prior to the September 2014 Government Decision, just one Chairperson Designate from an agency under the aegis of my Department appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. However, since that date all Chairpersons Designate have appeared. The Chairpersons Designate in question were from the Boards of the Health Information Quality Authority, Dublin Dental Hospital, Leopardstown Park Hospital, Irish Blood Transfusion Service and the Voluntary Health Insurance Board. The Chairperson Designate of the Health Products Regulatory Authority is scheduled to appear before the Oireachtas Committee in January 2016.

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