James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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104. To ask the Taoiseach the number of members of boards in each body under the aegis of his Department who have a professional accounting qualification, for each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [12162/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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105. To ask the Taoiseach to identify, by body name and associated skills gap, any skills gaps identified by the chairperson of that board in correspondence to his Department or a Minister in respect of the composition of the board of the body referred, for each year between 2020 and 2025, in tabular form; and to identify any body where the chairperson of that board never identified skills gaps to his Department or a Minister, by year and body [12180/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Taoiseach to confirm that for each year between 2020 and 2025 in respect of the boards of bodies under the aegis of his Department, at least one member of the audit and risk committee of that board has recent, relevant financial experience for each of those years; and where that is not the case, to identify that body, by reference to the year or years where no so such member existed [12198/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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107. To ask the Taoiseach to confirm that for each year between 2020 and 2025 in respect of the boards of bodies under the aegis of his Department, that the board has a terms of reference; and where that is not the case, to identify that body, by reference to year or years where no terms of reference existed [12216/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 to 107, inclusive, together.

Composition of the board of National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO), the only body under the aegis of my department, is prescribed in the governing legislation, namely the NESDO Act 2006. As such there is no requirement for its board members to have any specified skill or qualification and no skills gaps have been identified with respect to the NESDO Board during the period in question.

The NESDO Board is subject to and in compliance with the guidelines set out in the Code of Practice for the Governance of Non-Commercial State Bodies since this code was published in 2016.

As set out in the Code of Practice for the Governance of Non-Commercial State Bodies, the NESDO Board has a long-established Audit and Risk Committee with written terms of reference. The membership of the Audit and Risk Committee is drawn from outside the Board and includes two independent members which is the recommended composition for a body such as NESDO i.e. a body with fewer than 20 employees.

The independent members of the NESDO Audit and Risk Committee are selected because of their previous experience in corporate governance and Audit Committee Member Training is offered to all newly appointed members of the Committee.

Additionally, the Taoiseach makes appointments to the National Statistics Board (NSB) which, under the Statistics Acts 1993, has responsibility for guiding the strategic direction of the CSO and establishing prioritises for the compilation and development of official statistics in Ireland. As such the NSB does not have an audit and risk committee or terms of reference. The priorities of the NSB are outlined in its strategy, "Quality Information for All - Numbers Matter - 2012-2016".

NSB Board Members have a wide variety of experiences relevant to the official statistical system in Ireland and the international statistical system. One current member of the NSB, appointed in 2025, holds a Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance awarded by the ACCA. No skills gaps have been identified by the chairperson with respect to the NSB during the period in question.