Appointments to State Boards.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2004

Tuesday, 5 October 2004

Ceisteanna (8, 9, 10)

Enda Kenny

Ceist:

8 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the names, occupations and dates of appointment of each of the persons appointed by him to the State boards and agencies under his aegis since June 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17229/04]

Enda Kenny

Ceist:

9 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the appointments made by him since June 2002 to the State boards, or other agencies within his aegis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21441/04]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

10 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the appointments he has made to State boards or other agencies since January 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22481/04]

Freagraí ó Béal (10 píosaí cainte)

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 10, inclusive, together.

The information sought by the Deputies concerning the names of the persons appointed by me to State boards and agencies under my aegis, namely, the Information Society Commission, the National Statistics Board, the Law Reform Commission, the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, the National Economic and Social Council and the National Economic and Social Forum since June 1997 is set out in the following schedule.

Boards and agencies under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach.

	Agency
1	The Information Society Commission
2	The National Statistics Board
3	The Law Reform Commission
4	The National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP)
5	The National Economic and Social Council (NESC)
6	The National Economic and Social Forum (NESF)

The second Information Society Commission was appointed by the Taoiseach on 27 November 2001. The names and occupations of those appointed at that time were:

State Board or Agency	Name of Appointee	Occupation and Organisation	Date of Appointment
Information Society Commission
Chairman	Dr. Danny O’Hare	Former President of DCU	27 November 2001
	Claire Cunningham	Director, Aura Internet Services Limited	27 November 2001
	Dr. Chris Coughlan	Hewlett Packard	27 November 2001
	Michael Byrne	CEO, Ennis Information Age Services	27 November 2001
	Jerry Shanahan	ICTU/Amicus	27 November 2001
	Karen Hynes	Manager of E-Business Services, Chambers of Commerce of Ireland	27 November 2001
	Colm Reilly	Irish Internet Association	27 November 2001
	Inez Bailey	Director, National Adult Literacy Agency	27 November 2001
	Dr. Eamonn Conway	Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Mary Immaculate College, UL (University of Limerick)	27 November 2001
	Robert Johnston	JLS Software Solutions	27 November 2001
	Clodagh O’Donnell	Client Executive, Financial Services Sector, IBM	27 November 2001
	Dee Cari	Torque Management	27 November 2001
	Marion O’Neill	Manager, Kilkenny Information Age Town	27 November 2001
	Dr. Patricia O’Hara	Manager, Policy Division, Western Development Commission	27 November 2001
	Christopher Took	Web Developer (resigned September 2002)	27 November 2001
	Charles Stanley-Smith	Chief Technical Officer, Piercom	27 November 2001
	Brian Lennon	Guidance Counsellor, St. Oliver’s College, Drogheda	27 November 2001
	Donal Toolan	Forum of People with Disabilities	27 November 2001
	Kathryn Raleigh	Director of the Irish Software Association, IBEC	27 November 2001
	Joe Horan	County Manager, South Dublin County Council	27 November 2001
	Peter Ryan	Assistant Secretary, Department of the Taoiseach	27 November 2001
National Statistics Board
	Professor Frances Ruane	Trinity College Dublin	July 1999 August 2001
	Mr. David Doyle	Department of Finance	January 1998
	Mr. Dermot McCarthy	Department of the Taoiseach	July 1999
	Mr. Cathal O’Loghlin	Department of Finance	January 1999 July 1999 August 2001
	Mr. Frank Cunneen	Health and Safety Authority	July 1999 August 2001 February 2004
	Mr. Ciaran Dolan	ICMSA	July 1999 August 2001 February 2004
	Ms Paula Carey	ICTU	July 1999 August 2001 February 2004
	Mr. Steve Couldwell	Smith and Nephew	January 1998
	Ms Marian Harkin	Teacher	July 1999 August 2001
	Ms Mary Doyle	Department of the Taoiseach	January 2001 August 2001 February 2004
	Ms Helen Nic Fhlannchadha	Teacher	March 2002
	Professor Brendan Walsh	University College Dublin	February 2004
	Dr. Pat O’Hara	Western Development Commission	February 2004
	Mr. Derek Moran	Department of Finance	July 2003 February 2004
Law Reform Commission
	The Hon. Mr. Justice Vivian Lavan	Judge of the High Court	27 July 1998 — retired February 2000
President	The Hon. Mr. Justice Declan Budd	High Court	22 February 2000
Commissioner (Full-time)	Patricia T. Rickard-Clarke,	Solicitor	1 October 2001. Re-appointed 30 September 2004
Commissioner (Part-time)	Dr. Hilary A. Delaney, BL	Senior Lecturer in Law, TCD	15 April 1997. Re-appointed 15 April 2002
Commissioner (Part-time)	Professor Finbarr McAuley, BCL LLB, MPhil, LLD,	Jean Monnet Professor of European Criminal Justice, UCD	1 September 1999. Re-appointed 1 September 2004
Commissioner (Part-time)	Marian Shanley	Solicitor	Appointed 13 November 2001
National Economic and Social Council
Chairperson	Dermot McCarthy	Secretary General Department of the Taoiseach	November 1998 September 2003
Deputy Chairperson	Mary Doyle	Assistant Secretary Department of the Taoiseach	November 1998 September 2003
Trade Union Pillar Nominees
	Dave Begg	General Secretary, ICTU	November 1998 September 2003
	Peter McLoone	General Secretary, IMPACT	November 1998 September 2003
	Manus O’Riordan	SIPTU	November 1998 September 2003
	Joan Carmichael	ICTU	November 1998 September 2003
	Des Geraghty	SIPTU	November 1998
	Jack O’Connor	SIPTU	September 2003
Business and Employer or Organisation Pillar Nominees
	Turlough O’Sullivan	IBEC	November 1998
	Brian Geoghegan	IBEC	November 1998 September 2003
	John Dunne	CCI	November 1998 September 2003
	Liam Kelleher	CIF	November 1998 September 2003
	Brendan Butler	IBEC	November 1998 September 2003
	Aileen O’Donoghue	IBEC	September 2003
Agricultural and Farming Organisation Pillar Nominees
	Seamus O’Donohue	Irish Co-operative Organisation Society	November 1998 September 2003
	Ciaran Dolan	ICMSA	November 1998 September 2003
	Michael Berkery	General Secretary, IFA	November 1998 September 2003
	Con Lucey	Chief Economist, IFA	November 1998 September 2003
	Damian McDonald	Macra na Feirme	November 1998 September 2003
Community and Voluntary Pillar Nominees
	Fr. Sean Healy	CORI	November 1998 September 2003
	Siobhan O’Donoghue	Community Workers Co-operative	November 1998
	Orla O’Connor	NWCI	November 1998
	Donal Geoghegan	National Youth Council	November 1998 September 2003
	Dan Boyle	National Youth Council	November 1998
	Noeleen Hartigan	INOU	November 1998
	Deirdre Garvey	The Wheel	September 2003
	John Mark McCafferty	St. Vincent de Paul	September 2003
	John Dolan	Disability Federation of Ireland	September 2003
Government Department Nominees
	Tom Considine	Secretary General Department of Finance	November 1998 September 2003
	Paul Haran	Secretary General Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment	November 1998 September 2003
	John Hynes	Secretary General, Department of Social and Family Affairs	November 1998 September 2003
	Brendan Tuohy	Secretary General, Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources	November 1998 September 2003
	John Fitzgerald	Dublin City Manager, Dublin City Council	November 1998
	John Hurley	Secretary General, Department of Finance	November 1998
	Eddie Sullivan	Secretary General, Department of Social and Community Affairs	November 1998
	Niall Callan	Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government	September 2003
Independent Nominees
	Jim Walsh	Department of Geography NUI Maynooth	November 1998
	John Fitzgerald	ESRI	November 1998 September 2003
	Geraldine McAteer	West Belfast Partnership	November 1998
	David Finn	Aer Rianta Official	November 1998
	Colin Hunt	Goodbody Stockbrokers	September 2003
	Brigid Laffan	UCD	September 2003
	Eithne McLaughlin	Queens University	September 2003
	Peter Bacon	Economic Consultant	September 2003

There have been no new Government nominees to the Council of the National Centre for Partnership and Performance since its establishment. However, the nominees of the bodies represented on the council have changed as a result of individual retirements and internal organisational change within IBEC, the CIF andICTU.

State Board or Agency	Name of Appointee	Occupation and Organisation	Date of Appointment
National Centre for Partnership and Performance
Executive Chairperson	Vacant		Mr. Peter Cassells was appointed July 2001 and resigned 29 April 2004.
Government Departments
	Mr. Philip Kelly, Assistant Secretary Deputy Chairperson	Department of the Taoiseach	October 2001
	Mr. Ciaran Connolly, Assistant Secretary	Department of Finance	October 2001
	Mr. Maurice Cashell	Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment	October 2001
	Mr. John Walsh, Assistant Secretary	Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment	June 2002 — replaced Mr. Maurice Cashell
	Ms Sylda Langford, Assistant Secretary	Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform	October 2001
Employers
	Mr. Brendan McGinty	Director, Human/Industrial Resources, IBEC	October 2001
	Mr. Liam Doherty	Director, Human Resource Services, IBEC	October 2001
	Ms Marie Moynihan	Human Resource Manager, Dell Direct	October 2001
	Mr. Terry McEvoy	Director, Industrial Relations, CIF	October 2001
	Mr. Morgan Nolan	Industrial Relations Executive, CIF	January 2004 — replaced Mr. Terry McEvoy
Trade Unions
	Mr. Tom Wall	Assistant General Secretary, ICTU	October 2001
	Mr. Fergus Whelan	Industrial Officer, ICTU	October 2003 — replaced Mr. Tom Wall
	Mr. Jack O’Connor	General President, SIPTU	October 2001
	Ms Marie Levis	Assistant General Secretary, IMPACT	October 2001
	Mr. John Tierney	National Secretary, MSF	October 2001
	Mr. Des Geraghty	Member of Executive Council, ICTU	September 2004 — replaced Mr. John Tierney, MSF
	Ms Angela Kirk	IMPACT	September 2004 — replaced Ms Marie Levis
Independent Members
	Professor Bill Roche	Dean of Research, Smurfit Business School, UCD	October 2001
	Dr. Sheelah Ryan	CEO, Western Health Board	October 2001
	Mr. Seamus O’Brien	Partnership Facilitator, Galtee Meats	October 2001
	Professor Kathy Monks	Dean, DCU Business School	October 2001

Mr. Kenny

Perhaps the Taoiseach might comment regarding the boards and agencies under the control of his Department in the light of the recommendation made several years ago by the then Minister for Equality and Law Reform, the former Labour Deputy, Mervyn Taylor, who directed that State boards should appoint women to 40% of positions. What is the percentage of women appointees to boards and organisations under the aegis of his Department? While he is answering, perhaps he might comment on the distribution of €9,000 watches to selected members of a State board by an outgoing chairman.

An Ceann Comhairle

That does not arise on this question.

Mr. Kenny

It seems to have caught the public's attention, and it happened on the Taoiseach's watch, after all.

An Ceann Comhairle

The other question was submitted by Deputy Sargent. When he has spoken, there will be a final question for the Taoiseach.

Mr. Sargent

I hope that the Taoiseach will accept my congratulations on his appointments of chair and deputy chair to the NESC, demonstrating perfect gender balance with one man and one woman. However, why were all the other nominees from Departments men? Is he not being listened to or being taken notice of by his other colleagues? Would it be worth reminding them that they must try to implement gender balance themselves rather than leave it up to him?

The Taoiseach

In reply to Deputy Kenny's first question, we always try to adhere to that figure, and most of the boards under my Department's control, such as the National Economic and Social Forum, draw from various groups, as Deputies will know from my responses to previous questions. One is therefore dependent on whom they put forward. However, we continually make the point. Some of them are very good, and I believe that the NESF has over 40% women, although some of the others are far below that figure. It is always an issue with the social partnership groups when discussing the make-up of the NESF that we endeavour to get them, while appointing competent men or women, to maintain that balance. We will continue to do that as best we can.

If there is an opportunity to respond on the other matter I will take it.

Mr. Allen

The Taoiseach will have a bit of time.

Mr. Sargent

The Taoiseach did not comment on the NESC appointments. Apart from the Taoiseach's nominees, they were all men. Is that something he will stand over?

The Taoiseach

The NESC is not a State board and certain groups have nominating rights. I have no control over the nominations and I must accept those made by the various bodies.