Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
1492. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has made State board appointments in the past three years in circumstances in which she has reappointed a person that has already served two full terms, contrary to the advice in section 13.2 of the Guidelines on Appointments to State boards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19730/19]
View answerThe statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council, the Low Pay Commission and the Social Welfare Tribunal.
In line with good corporate governance practice, I have made no reappointments of people who have already served two full terms to the boards of the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council or the Low Pay Commission.
The Social Welfare Tribunal is different in that it does not have regular board meetings. It was established to deal with cases where entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance is refused due to involvement in a trade dispute. It 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), in accordance with legislation. Three members of the board of the Tribunal who have already served two full terms have been reappointed, namely the Chairperson and one nominee from both ICTU and IBEC. It should be noted that the Tribunal has not been required to sit since 2014.
