The appointment process for members of the Board of the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA) is set out in the Charities Act, 2009. Schedule 1, section 2(1) of the Act states that the Authority shall consist of not less than nine and not greater than twenty members. At present, there are 13 appointed members on the Board. In accordance with Section 2(2) of schedule 1, all of the current Board members of the CRA have been appointed by the Minister, with the approval of the Government.
Appointments to the Board are made in line with the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards which require that appointments are advertised openly on the State Boards portal www.stateboards.ie operated by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). Applications are processed by way of a transparent assessment system designed and implemented by PAS to support the Minister in making the appointments. Section 2(5) of Schedule 1 to the Charities Act requires the Minister to ensure that among the members of the Authority are persons who have knowledge of and expertise in relation to:
(a) the law relating to charities,
(b) the keeping of accounts by, and funding of, charitable organisations, and
(c) the management of charitable organisations.
Under Section 2(6) of Schedule 1 of the Charities Act 2009, appointments to the Authority are made for a period not exceeding five years. Sections 2(7) and 2(8) of the Schedule provide that a member of the Authority shall be eligible for re-appointment subject to the condition that they shall not hold office for periods the aggregate of which exceeds ten years.
The table below shows the composition of the current Board, including appointment dates.
Name
|
First Appointed
|
Reappointed
|
Expiry Date
|
Position type
|
Patrick Hopkins
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Chair
|
Cynthia Clampett
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Board Member
|
David Brady
|
16/10/2014
|
16/10/2017
|
15/10/2022
|
Board Member
|
Fergus Finlay
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Board Member
|
Graham Richards
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Board Member
|
Katie Cadden
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Board Member
|
Noel Wardick
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Board Member
|
Patricia Cronin
|
16/10/2014
|
16/10/2017
|
15/10/2022
|
Board Member
|
Sandra Chambers
|
16/10/2014
|
|
15/10/2018
|
Board Member
|
Tom Costello
|
16/10/2014
|
16/10/2017
|
15/10/2022
|
Board Member
|
Maire McMahon
|
16/01/2018
|
|
15/01/2023
|
Board Member
|
Niamh Cahill
|
16/01/2018
|
|
15/01/2023
|
Board Member
|
Ercus Stewart
|
16/01/2018
|
|
15/01/2023
|
Board Member
|