Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 March 2012
209 Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a list of all appointments to State boards made by him, including any appointments to the position of chairperson shown separately; if the vacancies on the boards were publicly advertised; who out of any appointments made applied through the publicly advertised process, and the prospective nominees that went before the Oireachtas committee for questioning. [13317/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraFull details of State Board appointments including Chairpersons, are available on the Department's website. Since my Department advertised new procedures for appointment to boards on Friday 8th April 2011, all appointments from that date have followed these procedures. However, given the importance of ensuing the right mix of skills and experience on every board, appointments are not necessarily confined to those who have made an expression of interest.
In total there have been 63 appointments made to boards under the aegis of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport during my term as Minister. Of these 36 were new appointments and 27 were re-appointments. Of the 27 reappointments, 8 related to members of the Advisory Committee of the National Transport Authority. These individuals were reappointed pending the completion and implementation of the Taxi Review Group's work. Of the 36 new appointments, 14 of the appointments were from applications received arising from the publically advertised process.
The new arrangements in relation to appearance before the Joint Oireachtas Committee only apply to Chairpersons. Nine Chairpersons whom I have appointed have appeared before the Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The only exception is Mr. Tom Wall, was appointed as Chairperson of the RPA on an interim basis until 18 April 2012 pending the merger of the RPA and the National Roads Authority. Given the short nature of his appointment, it was not considered necessary for him to appear before the Committee. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, prior to the appointment of a new Chairperson they will appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee.
