James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1964. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development 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; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12160/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1965. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development 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; to identify any body where the chairperson of that board never identified skills gaps to his Department or a Minister, by year and body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12178/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1966. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development 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; where that is not the case, to identify that body, by reference to the year or years where no so such member existed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12196/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1967. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development 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; where that is not the case, to identify that body, by reference to year or years where no terms of reference existed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12214/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1964 to 1967, inclusive, together.

There are four agencies under the remit of my Department; the Charities Regulator, the Western Development Commission (WDC), Water Safety Ireland (WSI) and Pobal. The role and functions of each of these bodies is set out in the relevant legislation, namely the Western Development Commission Act 1998, and the Water Safety Ireland (Establishment) Order 2019. With regard to Pobal, its principal activities and governance arrangements are set out in its Memoradum and Articles of Association.

My Department places a strong focus on agency governance. Each of the four agencies complete detailed annual checklists which set out their compliance in relation to all relevant governance and statutory obligations. This includes confirmation of a formal schedule of matters reserved to it being in place, confirmation that written charters are in place for Audit and Risk Committees, and confirmation that skills requirements are evaluated and identified by the Chair and advised to the Minister in advance of board vacancies arising.

In addition, the management board of my Department meets regularly with the Chairs and CEO’s of our agencies which provides an opportunity to discuss issues, including appropriate skills at board level. With regard to the recruitment of board members, appointments to the boards of these organisations are made, in the main, with administrative support from the Public Appointments Service (PAS). Board skills reviews are completed prior to role specifications being submitted to PAS.

In appointing board members there is a focus on ensuring an appropriate balance of skills, including with regard to corporate governance. I can confirm that the boards of agencies under my remit have members with formal accountancy qualifications. I note that details of board members are publicly available on the websites of the agencies, and a statement of how each board operates is included in each annual report.

With regard to administrative issues, each of the agencies are independent legal entities and are responsible for operational matters. Contact points for each of the agencies are set out below, and these contact points would be in a position to further assist the Deputy, if required.