In response to the Deputy's question I can confirm that there are currently two vacancies on State Boards under my remit.
These two vacancies are on the board of the Public Appointments Service (PAS) due to the resignations of the nominees of the Minister for Health and the Minister for Justice. A further vacancy will arise on 14 July 2015 when the term of office of one other board member will be completed. The appointment process for filling these vacancies will be conducted by PAS.
The Institute of Public Administration will have one vacancy arising on 1 October 2015 and the process of recruiting a new Director General will be conducted by the Public Appointments Service.
The appointment process for new members of the PAS board is outlined in the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. The act states that I as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (in consultation with Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Justice) should appoint members of the Board of the Public Appointments Service. The Board is meant to be representative of the Public Appointments Service client base. The Act also specifies that in appointing persons as members of the Board I shall ensure that:
- at least 2 of them have either or both civil service and other public service experience and knowledge which I consider relevant, and
- at least 2 of them have expertise in human resource management, customer service and recruitment outside the public service which I consider relevant.
