Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

687. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacancies in each State board under the aegis of his Department, in tabular form. [49939/17]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

693. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the names of persons he has appointed to each State board under the aegis of his Department that have not come from the Public Appointments Service list of suitable candidates, in tabular form. [50001/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 687 and 693 together.

Details in relation to the membership of State Boards under the aegis of my Department, including the dates of appointment and mechanisms of appointment, are available on the Department’s website at the following link:

www.housing.gov.ie/corporate/transparency-data/appointments-state-boards/appointments-declg-state-boards.

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 are of a full-time executive nature and are governed by statutory processes.

 A “unitary board structure” is in place for Ervia and its subsidiaries, Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland.  An overarching non-executive board has overall responsibility and accountability for the performance of the Ervia Group. The Boards of the two principal Ervia subsidiaries, Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland, are executive-only boards.

The Public Appointments Service portal www.stateboards.ie offers a single dedicated point of contact to all Government Departments, as a support to the existing State Board appointment procedures.  This service provides a mechanism for Departments to advertise board vacancies and it gives prospective candidates an opportunity to register their general interest in a position on a State Board and to be alerted to upcoming vacancies.  This process for appointments to State Boards includes an assessment of the skills and competencies required to be a member of the relevant Board.

A process is underway to fill a vacancy in An Bord Pleanála and a further Board member position which can be added to the Board's complement under its governing legislation.  There is also potential for a further member to be appointed to the Board of the Housing Agency.