Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 March 2012
102 Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a list of all appointments to State boards made by her, including any appointments to the position of chairperson shown separately; if the vacancies on the boards were publicly advertised; who from any appointments made applied through the publicly advertised process, and which prospective nominees went before the Oireachtas committee for questioning. [13316/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board. In addition, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department but it does not have a Board. Details of current members and appointments in relation to these three bodies are available on the Department's website at www.welfare.ie/EN/AboutUs/Pages/stateagencies.aspx. Those details are updated as required.
The Social Welfare Tribunal consists of a Chairperson and four ordinary members, two on the nomination of Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and two nominated by Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC). The positions of the four ordinary members are not subject to the new procedures due to the nature of the work of the Tribunal, as it deals with entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance in cases where a claim is refused because it is considered to be connected to a trade dispute. For that reason, the board is made up of individuals who are deemed to be representative of both employers and employees and are nominated by both ICTU and IBEC. One of the ICTU members of the Tribunal resigned in 2011 and on the nomination of ICTU, a replacement member, Ms Chris Rowland was appointed commencing 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 vacancy was not publically advertised.
I have made no appointments to the Pensions Board since coming into office. I have not appointed a Chairperson to any of the above Boards since coming into office and none of the above nominees were required to appear before the appropriate Oireachtas committee prior to appointment.
