Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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103. To ask the Taoiseach the details of appointments to State boards, by name of appointee, date of appointment and appointment through a public application process or otherwise, from 7 March 2011 to date; the number of vacancies on State boards under his remit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4624/16]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I make appointments to the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and the National Statistics Board (NSB).

The appointments are made in accordance with the provisions of the National Economic and Social Development Office Act 2006, the National Economic and Social Council (Alteration of Composition) Order 2010 (SI No 603 of 2010), and Section 18 of the Statistics Act 1993.

In the case of the NESC I appoint:

- 20 members specifically on the basis of nominations from business and employer interests, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, farming and agricultural interests, the community and voluntary sector and the environmental sector;

- up to 6 public servants of whom at least one must represent the Taoiseach and one must represent the Minister for Finance;

- up to 8 independent members with skills, knowledge and expertise relevant to the functions of the Council as required by the legislation.

In the case of the NSB the 1993 Act provides for a Board comprising 8 people - 7 appointed by the Taoiseach and, ex officio,the Director General of the Central Statistics Office. It specifies that the 7 appointments be:

- five persons of proven ability and experience in relevant fields - two to be nominated by the Taoiseach and three to be nominated by such organisation or organisations as the Taoiseach considers to be representative of the users of official statistics and providers of information under the Act;

- an Assistant Secretary or equivalent or higher grade in the Department of the Taoiseach; and

- an Assistant Secretary or equivalent or higher grade in the Department of Finance.

Appointments since 9 March 2011 are set out in the following tables. In the case of the NESC the independent members are mainly from the academic sector and were made following careful consideration of the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise relevant to the functions of the Council as required by legislation, before introduction of the new State Boards appointments procedures in 2014. I have delegated functions relating to the NSB to Minister of State Kehoe. When the previous Board's term expired in 2013 the Chairperson and Civil Servants on the Board were reappointed for a new term and expressions of interest were invited for the four remaining positions on the Department of the Taoiseach and the National Statistics Board websites. In March 2014 Minister of State Kehoe appointed four persons from among the expressions of interest received.

The 5 year term of the National Economic and Social Council will expire during the first half of 2016. There are currently no vacancies on the NSB. Where appropriate and consistent with the legislation it is intended that future appointments to the NESC and NSB will be advertised on Stateboards.ie.

NESC

National Statistics Board