The three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection are the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board. In addition, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman (which does not have a board) comes under the remit of the Department. The Social Welfare Tribunal consists of a Chairman and four ordinary members, two of whom are nominated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and two of whom are nominated by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC). The positions of the four ordinary members are not subject to the new procedures involving the advertising of positions due to the nature of the work of the Social Welfare Tribunal. The Tribunal deals with cases where entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance is refused where the claim is connected to a trade dispute. Where a person feels that he/she has been unreasonably deprived of employment because his/her employer refused or failed to follow the negotiating machinery available for settling disputes, he/she may apply to the Tribunal for an adjudication on the matter. Therefore in the interest of fairness the board is made up of individuals that are deemed to be representative of both employers and employees and are nominated by both ICTU and IBEC. One of ICTU members of the Tribunal resigned in 2011 and on the nomination of ICTU a replacement member, Ms Chris Rowland, was appointed by me commencing from 24 October 2011.
I have made two appointments to the Citizens Information Board since coming into office. Mr. Eugene McErlean was appointed with effect from 7 September 2011. This followed my public request for expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced individuals announced in July 2011. 172 applications were received and the appointment was made following a rigorous selection process in accordance with the legislation governing appointments to such a board. On 1 November 2011, I appointed Ms Fiona Ward as a member and as she is the Department's representative on the board, the appointment was not subject to the new procedures.
The Pensions Board is a representative body and the composition of its membership is set out in the Pensions Act 1990. The Board must comprise representatives of Trade Union Members, Employers, Occupational Pension Schemes, the Actuarial Profession, the Accounting Profession, the Legal Profession, Consumer Interests, Pensioner Interests, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Social Protection. While all of its members are appointed by me, the Pensions Act 1990 provides that of the 16 members, eight are nominated by representative bodies. These eight members represent the first six of the interests set out above. This comprises two representatives each of the trade union and employer groups and one representative each of the occupational pension schemes, the actuarial, accounting and legal professions. I have not made any appointments to The Pensions Board. A new Board was appointed on 21 December 2010 for a period of five years. No appointments have been made using the new procedures as the current Board was appointed prior to the new procedures being adopted. There is currently one vacancy on the Pensions Board to be filled by a nominating body. According to section 23 of The Pensions Act 1990 as amended, the Board may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.
