Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 March 2012
67 Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Finance 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. [13310/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the Deputy's question the following appointments were made in respect of bodies under the aegis of my Department since March 2011.
Fiscal Advisory Council —The following people were appointed to the Fiscal Advisory Council: Mr Sebastian Barnes; Professor Alan Barrett; Dr Donal Donovan; Professor John McHale, Chair; Dr Roisin O’Sullivan. As Minister for Finance I announced the establishment of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council on a non-statutory basis on 7 July 2011. The Council is part of a wider agenda of reform of Ireland’s budgetary architecture which is envisaged in the Programme for Government and is a requirement of the EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland. When establishing the Council, I stated that the Council would be an independent body whose existence and independence would be underpinned by legislation.
The Chairman was not interviewed by Oireachtas Committee as a prospective nominee but the Fiscal Council appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform on 17 November 2011 to discuss their first fiscal assessment report published in October.
I appointed the members having regard to a number of criteria including the desirability of having a mix of appropriate backgrounds (academia, the financial sector/financial markets and public finance), macroeconomic/microeconomic expertise and a strong international dimension, as well as the need to take gender considerations into account. I am satisfied that the appointed members have the mix of skills and experience, including in relation to fiscal affairs, to ensure that the Council will be highly effective in fulfilling its mandate. The legislation putting the Council on a statutory footing will include provisions for the appointment of members.
National Asset Management Agency —Mr John Mulcahy was appointed to the Board of the National Asset Management Agency. He was not appointed under the new procedures for board appointments as he was an internal appointment from within the National Asset Management Agency. Mr Mulcahy is head of Asset Management within the National Asset Management Agency.
