Appointments as Ordinary Member to the Board of the Léargas - The Exchange Bureau

Léargas manage international and national exchange programmes in education, youth and community work, sport and vocational education and training.

These exchanges connect people in different communities and countries and bring an international dimension to the work of organisations across Ireland.

Léargas is the National Agency for Erasmus+ in Adult Education, School Education, Vocational Education and Training, Sport and Youth and the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) Programme. Léargas has built a national and international reputation for effectively managing significant levels of funding to support international collaboration and exchange.

Léargas has also built a reputation for a friendly and supportive approach to programme applicants and beneficiaries. Léargas manages significant levels of EU funding to support mobility, sharing of best practice and other activities undertaken by Irish beneficiaries of Erasmus+ and the ESC.

Léargas is constituted as a company limited by guarantee without a share capital, as set out under parts 1-15 of the Companies Act 2014. Its purpose and objectives are set out in the Memorandum of Association and how it conducts its business is set out in the Articles of Association.

Léargas is a not-for-profit organisation and a registered charity which enhances European, national and international exchange and co-operation programmes in education, training and youth and community work. Léargas is not a public/ state body, it is tasked to deliver its work under the aegis of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Board is appointed by the Minister. The Léargas Registered Charity Number is 20020330 and the CHY (Revenue) Number is 8317. The Company Number is 208725.

Further information on the work of Léargas can be found at https://www.leargas.ie/

The key purpose of the Board of Léargas is to ensure the good and appropriate governance of the organisation by collectively directing the organisation’s affairs while meeting the appropriate interest of all stakeholders and complying with all necessary legislation and regulation including the 2016 Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies alongside the requirements of the Charities Governance Code.

The key functions of the Board are:

• Ensuring the organisation operates in a way that is consistent with its mission as defined in the of Association of Léargas and defining the ethos of the organisation.
• Setting out the ethical standards of the organisation and ensuring that everyone involved acts with integrity at all times.
• The recruitment and supervision of the Executive Director, determining their compensation and evaluating their performance.
• Setting the strategic direction of the organisation in partnership with the Executive Director.
• Governance of the organisation in compliance with the 2016 Code of Practice for the governance of State Bodies and the requirements of the Charities Governance Code. Exercising its fiduciary duty to protect the organisation’s assets.
• Monitoring and controlling the organisations activities and finances including appointing the external and internal auditors, ensuring that audits are performed in a timely manner and that all audit findings are addressed.
• Promoting the principals and values of the programmes that Léargas facilitates.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science invites applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the positions of Ordinary Member to the Board of Léargas - The Exchange Bureau.

Candidates’ attention is drawn to the provisions of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies in relation to the role of a board member, where the principle states:

• Each state body should be headed by an effective board which is collectively responsible for the long-term sustainability of the body.
• Non-executive board members should bring an independent judgement to bear on issues of strategy, performance resources, key appointments and standard of conduct.

Details on the role of board members can be found in Section 3 of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies which can be found here.

Essential

Candidates wishing to apply must demonstrate in their application, evidence of experience at an appropriately senior level of their ability to:

• Bring independent and objective scrutiny to the oversight of the organisation.
• Challenge, when necessary, while being supportive to the delivery of organisational strategy and objectives.

Desirable

It is also desirable that candidates demonstrate evidence of experience in the following:

• An understanding and knowledge of the following: The 2016 Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, the Companies Acts 2014 or The Charities Act 2009 and Charities Governance Code.
• An understanding and knowledge of education and training, youth and community sectors in Ireland.
• An understanding and knowledge of the benefits and impact of educational exchange programmes such as Erasmus+ and the ESC
• A demonstrable understanding, knowledge, experience and practice at a professional level of the international and/or European programmes in which Léargas operates, which will enable them to meet the objectives of the Léargas Strategic Plan 2025-2030.
• Financial and Governance expertise
• Relevant networking and relationship building experience

Appointments to the Board will be for an initial period of 3 years and may be extended for a second and third term according to the Terms of Reference and Articles, subject to:

• The membership of any member of the Board may be terminated by the Minister at any time, on the basis of reasons to be stated by the Minister.
• A member of the Board may resign his or her membership of the Board by notice in writing sent or given to the Minister, and the resignation shall take effect on the day on which the Minister receives the notice.
• Members of the Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, hold office upon such terms and conditions as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, from time to time determine.
• The roles and responsibilities of Board Members are described in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016 which is available here Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.
• A board member shall cease to be a member of the board if he or she is nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, is elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or as a representative in the European Parliament or elected to the European Parliament.

Having considered the general suitability criteria for membership of a State Board, you should consider carefully how your background and experience fits with the specific appointment criteria set out in the Person Specification section in this booklet.

Your submission should be made via the following link www.publicjobs.ie together with your Curriculum Vitae and a cover letter.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Please take care when submitting your expression of interest. As the Assessment Panel will generally make its recommendation(s) based on consideration of the documentation which you submit, it is most important that you do the following:

This will help ensure that the Assessment Panel is as informed as possible as to the basis for your candidature and why you believe you are a person who could potentially be appointed to this State Board. Please only include information that is directly relevant to the particular role for which you are applying.

If you have any questions regarding the application process please email stateboards@publicjobs.ie.

Closing date for applications is 3pm, Wednesday 1 April 2026

An Assessment Panel (the “Panel”) will be convened by publicjobs to consider and assess the applications received by publicjobs. The Panel will:

1. review and discuss the expressions of interest received against the specific appointment criteria for the role, as advertised in this Information Booklet;
2. assess potential candidates further once they meet the specified appointment criteria by undertaking any or all of the following steps:
   • Consideration of the written applications; and/or
   • Meeting/conference call; and/or
   • Referee checks; and/or
   • Any other selection or verification method deemed appropriate (this may include PAS requiring statutory declarations from shortlisted applicants as to the bona fides of the qualifications and experience contained in their applications).

1. arrive at a shortlist of the most suitably qualified candidates (based on the information provided by the candidate) to be sent forward for consideration by the Minister.

Please note that publicjobs will not be responsible for any expenses incurred by candidates as part of our selection process.

Subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Acts, 2014, applications will be treated in strict confidence. All enquires, applications and all aspects of the proceedings are treated as strictly confidential and are not disclosed to anyone, outside those directly involved in that aspect of the process.

Certain items of information, not specific to any individual, are extracted from computer records for general statistical purposes.

Protected Disclosures

The publicjobs Protected Disclosures Policy (including Reporting Options for all those covered by the Policy) is available here.

The Data Protection Act 2018 provides that the processing of personal data shall be lawful where such processing is necessary for the performance of a statutory function of a controller.

PAS is mandated by statute under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act, 2004 to act as the centralised assessment and selection body for the civil service and to carry out all the procedures necessary to undertake the recruitment, assessment and selection of suitable candidates for appointment. By submitting your personal data (including your name, address, contact details and details of your education and work history contained in your curriculum vitae and cover letter) via publicjobs.ie, you acknowledge that such data may be used by publicjobs and disclosed to and used by client departments, in connection with its statutory roles to assist and advise relevant Ministers in relation to appointments to the boards of State bodies. The information contained in your publicjobs profile is yours to manage, amend, update or delete as appropriate. For more detailed information on our Data Protection Policy, please see our Code of Practice for the Protection of Personal Data in publicjobs.

If your application is assessed and you are considered to be suitable for appointment your c.v. and cover letter (and any additional supplementary information requested as part of the application process), will be forwarded to the State Board Liaison Officer in the relevant Department. Once it obtains your personal data, the Department will act as data controller of such data and will retain it for up to one year following the appointment/s. Unless you request the withdrawal of your application such data may be used in considering your suitability for other similar vacancies/roles that arise for a period of up to one year for this Board.