The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Board, the Pensions Ombudsman (which does not have a board) and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Details of appointments to the Boards over the last three years are set out in the following table:
|
Agency/Board
|
Number of appointments made as a result of applications made through publicjobs.ie website
|
Number of Board posts
Advertised on
Publicjobs.ie
|
Number of Board posts not advertised on Publicjobs.ie but instead were directly appointed
|
Average payment to directly appointed board members
|
|
Citizens Information Board
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
Nil
|
|
Pensions Board
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
|
Social Welfare Tribunal
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
62 new appointments
4 re-appointments
|
Nil
|
Citizens Information Board
There were 2 appointments made that did not require public advertisement. One was appointed as the Department’s representative to the Board on 1 November 2011 and the other was appointed as the Board’s staff representative on 5 November 2012.
Pensions Board
The Public Service Reform Programme provided for a critical review of the integration of the regulatory functions of the Pensions Board with the Financial Regulator and the merging of the Pensions Ombudsman with the Financial Services Ombudsman. The recommendations arising out of the Critical Review on the Pensions Board were approved by Government in April 2013 and were provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2013. It was recommended that the governance structure of the Pensions Board be restructured with two distinct arms as follows: Oversight of the Pensions Board will be undertaken by a three person body called the Pensions Authority. This will consist of a Chairperson and two officials from the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Finance. A separate unpaid Pensions Council, with a majority of members representing consumer interests, will be established to advise me on pensions policy. I expect to appoint the Chairperson of the Pensions Authority shortly. I intend to call for expressions of interest for the appointment to the Pensions Council through the Public Appointments Service.
Social Welfare Tribunal
The Board of the Tribunal consists of a Chairperson and four ordinary members, two of whom are nominated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and two by the Irish Business and Employer’s Confederation (IBEC). There have been 2 new appointments and 4 re-appointments to the board in the last 3 years. The Chairperson is sourced by the Department of Social Protection by way of a recommendation from the Labour Court with regard to a particular candidate’s suitability. The revised Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies does not apply to the Tribunal due to its structure and purpose. Members of the Tribunal do not receive a salary although attendance fees are payable for hearings and meetings. Members are also entitled to standard travel and subsistence allowances, if appropriate.
