Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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215. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the State bodies or boards that fall under the remit of his Department; and the number of members of each State body or board who are not qualified within the field in which the board or body has oversight. [43419/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has responsibility for a large number of bodies, both statutory and non-statutory. These bodies range in scale from large scale national services such as An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the Irish Prison Service and the Property Registration Authority; sectoral regulators such as the Private Security Authority, the Property Services Regulatory Authority and the Legal Services Regulatory Authority; oversight bodies such as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, Garda Síochána Inspectorate, Policing Authority and Inspector of Prisons; to statutory Boards exercising appellate type functions and which have no full time dedicated staff (e.g. Censorship of Publications Boards, Private Security Appeal Board, the Legal Terms Advisory Committee). 

The governance structure of these bodies varies and not all have boards.  Board positions are now generally advertised through the state boards process, which clearly specifies the statutory criteria, which may include a requirement for professional qualifications or specify particular experience.  While these criteria may be directly relevant to the nature of body's work, they may also refer to financial, governance or stakeholder interests; for example, the Courts Service Board includes a person representative of court users.

Further information on these bodies and the nature of the relationship between them and my Department can be found in the Department's Corporate Governance Framework on our website (www.justice.ie); details of the members of State Boards can be found on the State Boards website (www.stateboards.ie).