Press release
Minister Donohoe announces appointments to the Board of the Public Appointments Service (PAS)
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
Mr. Tom Moran has been appointed to the Chair of the Board of the Public Appointments Service and Ms. Mary Connaughton has also been appointed to as an ordinary member following a competitive process through the Stateboards website .
The Board of the Public Appointments Service consists of a chairperson, the CEO of PAS (ex-officio) and seven ordinary members.
Mr Tom Moran lives in Dublin. He was appointed Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture in 2005.
Since leaving the Department in 2015, Tom has been a non-executive Director of the Kerry Group, non-executive Director of Elivia, Director of An Bord Bia, Chairman of An Bord Bia’s Dairy Subsidiary Board and member of its Audit, Strategy and Remuneration Committees, Chairman of Audit Committee of PAS, Chairman of Audit Committee of Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.
He is a regular participant on Top Level Appointment Commission’s selection panels for PAS and has participated in other high level selection/recruitment processing.
Tom was appointed by the Minister for Justice to the selection panel for Senior Gardai and subsequently appointed by The Policing Authority for the same purpose. Tom is also a consultant to Coolmore Stud and Chairman of various industry/sector/stakeholder groups within the Agri-food sector.
He was appointed by Minister Creed in 2017 to chair the People in Dairy Action Plan. Tom was awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre de Merite by the French Government in 2015 for services to EU Agriculture and for promoting relations between Ireland and France.
Ms. Mary Connaughton lives in Co. Meath, attended UCD and qualified with a BA and MA in Psychology. Earlier in her career she worked as a Psychologist in the Civil Service Commission and was head of Unit in FAS.
Mary also worked in HR in Bank of Ireland and went on to be a Consultant Partner in Emerge Consulting. Mary was a Director with Graphite Human Resource Management and head of HR Development at IBEC.
She was also editor of the HR Best Practice Series. She is a Director at CIPD Ireland and a board member of the Retirement Planning Council.
She has represented Ireland on the European Association for People Management and was appointed by An Taoiseach Brian Cowan as a member of the Board of the National Centre for Partnership and Performance until it dissolution in 2010.
The Minister also extended the terms of Dr Eddie Molloy and Ms Anne Marie Taylor last October.
Current Public Appointments Service Board
| Member | Term | Recommended By | Credentials |
| Mr Tom Moran Chairman | 12/02/2017 – 12/02/2021 | Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform | Wider HR experience at senior levels in the Civil and Public Service |
| Ms Mary Connaughton | 12/02/2018 – 12/02/2018 | Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform | HR Consultant |
| Mr. David Cagney | 22/09/2015 – 21/09/2018 [Term 1] | Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform | Chief HR Resources Officer for the Civil Service, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform |
| Mr. Paul Lemass | 09/10/2017 – 08/10/2020 [Term 2] | Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government | Assistant Secretary, Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government |
| Mr. Damien McCallion | 01/07/2015 – 01/07/2018 [Term 1] | Minister for Health and Children | Health Service Executive |
| Mr John O’Callaghan | 12/02/2018 – 12/02/2021 [Term 1] | Minister for Justice and Equality | Assistant Secretary, Department of Justice and Equality |
| Dr. Eddie Molloy | 09/10/2017 – 08/10/2020 [Term 3] | Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform | Management Consultant (Expertise in Strategic Change) |
| Ms. Anne Marie Taylor | 09/10/2017 – 08/10/2020 [Term 2] | Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform from advertised process | HR Consultant |
| Ms. Fiona Tierney (as CEO of the PAS holding office on an ex officio basis) | 09/10/2017 – 08/10/2020 | Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform | Holds office on an ex officio basis |
The Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004, which established the Public Appointments Service, specifies that the chairperson and ordinary members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister in consultation with the Minister for Health, the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Justice and Equality.
The Act also specifies that in appointing persons as members of the Board the Minister shall ensure that:
In addition, the Act sets out that the Minister, after consultation with the other Ministers referred to above, shall have regard to such experience and knowledge of the person that is considered necessary or appropriate to enable the Board to carry out its functions.
Finally, the Minister shall have regard to the desirability of an appropriate gender balance as the Minister may determine from time to time.
ENDS