I propose to take Questions Nos. 142, 146 and 149 together.
The Loughs Agency is an agency of the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission (FCILC), established as one of the North South Implementation Bodies under the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, constituted under the North South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and the British Irish Agreement Acts 1999 and 2002. The Board of the Loughs Agency reports to and is appointed by the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC). As Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, I am required to nominate six people for appointment by the NSMC to the Board. The remaining six nominations come from the Northern Ireland side.
There are no statutory criteria or qualifications specified for membership of the Board provided under the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999. However, a spread of relevant expertise and sectoral / stakeholder experience among those nominated to the Board and gender balance within the nominations is considered optimal.
The terms of office of the current Board members nominated by my predecessor expire on 12 December 2021. I selected 6 individuals for nomination from a list of 10 candidates submitted to me following receipt of expressions of interest. All those who expressed an interest in appointment or reappointment were included in that list - there is no requirement to consider only expressions of interest received before a particular date such as 1 July 2021. I submitted the names of those six nominees to the NSMC on 8 October 2021, for consideration for appointment to the Board of the Loughs Agency. On 14 October 2021, the NSMC, as the statutory appointing authority, appointed these 6 nominees to the Board with effect from 13 December 2021. The record of the NSMC, made available to my Department, confirms the appointment of the 6 nominees and that of a nominee from Northern Ireland who was also appointed with effect from the same date.
