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Minister Donohoe appoints four new members, including new Chairperson, to the Board of HBFI
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Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe T.D., has today (Thursday) announced the nomination of four people to the Board of Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI).
The Minister has nominated Marie Collins as the Chairperson along with the appointment of three additional non-executive directors to the Board, Claire Solon, Grainne Hennessy and Ken Slattery.
The selection process for the appointments was undertaken in accordance with the “Guidelines for appointments to State Boards” published by the Government in November 2014. It was managed by the Public Appointments Service and there was a significant level of interest in the posts advertised.
Commenting on the appointments, Minister Donohoe said:
‘I am delighted to announce these appointments to the Board of HBFI, ensuring that this new organisation will benefit from exceptional leadership and a wide breadth of skills and experience as it proceeds through its crucial first year of operations’.
“In addition to the high calibre of the nominees, I also welcome the fact that three out of four of the new directors, including the Chairperson, are women, reflecting the importance of diversity in the traditionally male dominated sectors of property and finance.”
Ends
Notes to Editors:
• Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) was officially launched in January 2019 and has been established for the purpose of funding the construction of new homes in Ireland. It is a commercial entity, providing finance at market rates for commercially viable residential developments.
• Section 8 of the Home Building Finance Ireland Act 2018 provides that the Board of HBFI shall consist of between 3 and 7 directors, including the Chairperson, each appointed by the Minister for Finance.
• The Minister for Finance appointed three Board members on the formation and registration of HBFI. These are:
o Des Carville - Head of Shareholding and Financial Advisory Division in the Department of Finance
o Andrew Flanagan – Chief Legal Officer of the NTMA
o Michael Broderick – HBFI Project Lead
Biographies of the Nominees
• Marie Collins is an experienced non-executive director in both the private and public sectors. The former General Manager of the ESB Pension Fund, she currently serves on the boards of Irish Property Unit Trust Plc. (IPUT), Bank of Ireland: General Investment Trust DAC, the Trinity College Dublin Foundation and Eco-UNESCO. Marie Collins will also bring considerable leadership to the role of Chairperson, having previously chaired the Irish Association of Pensions Funds (IAPF), as well as chairing the Audit & Risk Committees of several organisations.
• Claire Solon is Head of Property at Aviva and is responsible for managing in excess of €600m of property funds in Ireland and UK. Claire was previously responsible for the management of the largest property portfolio in Ireland as Head of Estates Management in ESB. She served as President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors in 2016 and also served on the Board of the Irish Green Building Council.
• Grainne Hennessy is a senior solicitor at Arthur Cox with over 27 years’ experience in advising lenders and borrowers on the funding of real estate investments, including some of the largest construction finance projects in the country. She was a member of the management committee of Arthur Cox for 6 years.
• A fellow of the Institute of Bankers and a Certified Bank Director, Ken Slattery has extensive board room experience in the financial services sector. He currently serves as a non-executive director for Permanent TSB and the National Shared Services Office where he is also Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. He was previously a Corporate Banking Director with Bank of Ireland for over 15 years and also held executive director roles at the Social Finance Foundation for 9 years.