Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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109. To ask the Taoiseach the number of boards or agencies to which his officials have been appointed; if there are guidelines or protocols for members of staff being appointed to boards or agencies; and if so, when same was last updated. [6653/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I appoint members to the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) under the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) Act 2006 and the NESC (Alteration of Composition) Order 2010 - SI 603/ 2010.

In accordance with the legislation, two officials from my Department at Secretary General and Assistant Secretary level currently have the position of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson.

The National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) is the body corporate for the NESC. Section 13 of the NESDO Act 2006 provides that the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the NESC are members of the NESDO.

I also appoint members to the National Statistics Board (NSB) under Section 18 of the Statistics Act 1993 which provides that the NSB shall consist of eight members, including an Assistant Secretary or equivalent or higher grade in the Department of the Taoiseach. One official at Assistant Secretary level in my Department, has been appointed to the National Statistics Board.

One Principal Officer in my Department has been nominated to the Council of Gaisce. Gaisce is governed by a board of directors, the Gaise Council, whose appointments are made by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs under the terms of the Gaisce Council's Memorandum and Articles of Association.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies applies to all members of State Boards including any officials appointed.