The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal.
Citizens Information Board
The legislative provisions governing appointments to the Citizens Information Board are contained in the Comhairle Act 2000, the Citizens Information Act 2007 and the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011. In accordance with its governing legislation, the Citizens Information Board shall comprise of 15 members, including the Chairperson, with the objective that at least six of those members shall be women and at least six members shall be men. Currently, there are 14 board members appointed, comprising of seven female and seven male members. There is one ex-officio member on the Board from the Department of Social Protection.
Pensions Authority
The membership of the Pensions Authority consists of an independent Chairperson, appointed by the Minister for Social Protection and two ex-officio members representing the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Protection. All current members of the Pensions Authority are male. With only three members in total, the Authority is structurally unable to meet the State Boards' gender balance guidelines of a minimum 40% from either gender.
Pensions Council
The current membership of the Pensions Council consists of five female and six male members, which is in line with the aforementioned State Boards' gender balance guidelines. The majority of the Pensions Council are appointed through the Stateboards.ie process, with the Chairperson appointed by the Minister for Social Protection.
The membership of the Pensions Council has been constituted to include persons working within the pension industry and other sectors so as to ensure that the relevant skills, specialist knowledge and experience is in place to allow for the provision of collective advice, information and assistance in the development of pensions policy. Due to the implications of pensions on the Irish economy and society into the future, there are ex-officio appointments from the Pensions Authority, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Central Bank and the Department of Social Protection.
Social Welfare Tribunal
The Social Welfare Tribunal consists of a Chairperson and four ordinary members, two ordinary members on the nomination of ICTU and two ordinary members on the nomination of IBEC. Membership of the Tribunal currently consists of a Chairperson (male), in addition to two female and two male ordinary members, none of whom are public servants.
