Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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161. To ask the Minister for Finance the name, function and establishment date of all the organisations and agencies that are funded by his Department; the number of employees in each; the salary of the chief executive in each organisation and agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49185/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Two of the bodies under the aegis of my Department are fully funded, and one is partially funded, from my Department’s voted expenditure. Details of these three bodies are set out below.

The Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal (DDMBA) was established in 1989 to act as an appeals body for those applicants refused a Primary Medical Certificate by the HSE in respect of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Drivers (Tax Concessions) scheme. The DDMBA are a board of medical practitioners and have no employees or premises. The DDMBA operate through the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), who provide all functions, including facilities, infrastructure and staffing, to facilitate the DDMBA in carrying out its remit. The costs are then reimbursed to the NRH by my Department. €370,000 has been provided for in Vote 7 annually in respect of the DDMBA in recent years. As the Deputy will be aware, two Expression of Interest campaigns have been held, seeking suitable candidates for the Board. The Department of Health leads on all actions and tasks with respect to the Expression of Interest Campaigns. Department of Finance officials provide support to the Department of Health in this matter.

From these campaigns, three suitable candidates have been identified and are being Garda vetted. It is hoped to interview two other candidates shortly.

The Credit Union Advisory Committee (CUAC) advises me, as Minister for Finance, on the improvement in the management of credit unions and other matters relating to credit unions. It was established under Section 180(3) of the Credit Union Act 1997 and has 7 part-time members. Annual fees and any expenses incurred by the Committee members are paid by my Department.

The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) was established on 1 January 2018 by the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017. Its role is to resolve complaints from consumers, including non-personal customers, businesses and other organisations, about the conduct of regulated financial service providers and pension providers. The FSPO has 88 employees and the salary of the Chief Executive Officer is €166,318. It should be noted that the expenses incurred by the Ombudsman in the performance of his functions in so far as they relate to the investigation of complaints regarding pension providers are paid out of voted expenditure. The majority of the FSPO’s funding is by means of a levy paid by the financial services industry with a proportion of the FSPO’s funding provided by the Exchequer based on the ratio of pensions-related complaints to financial services complaints, and is 5% for 2022.