Appointments to the Board of the National Treatment Purchase Fund - 15 November 2023

Following a Public Appointments Service campaign, the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has appointed the following members to the Board of the National Treatment Purchase Fund with effect from 28 February 2023 until 27 February 2026.

Gerry Quinn has over 40 years organisational experience gained in the public and private sector including over 25 years operating at senior management level. Having commenced his career in the civil service Gerry moved to the telecommunications sector where he filled various IT management roles including 7 years as Chief Information Officer in eircom. He joined the Central Bank in 2010 as CIO and was subsequently appointed as the first Chief Operations Officer of the organisation in 2011. As a member of the executive team and reporting directly to the Governor Gerry’s COO responsibilities included HR, IT, Finance, Procurement, Facilities, Currency Production and Security. After 11 years as COO Gerry took on the role of Chief Transformation Officer in 2022 with responsibility for the setting up of a major organisational transformation as part of the Bank’s new strategy.

Gerry has an MSc (Organisational Behaviour) from Trinity Collect and was Adjunct Professor in the Business School UCC from 2016 to 2022.

Gerry is a board member of Tailte and the also the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Dr. Fiona Kiernan was appointed to the Board of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2023 and is Chair of the Patient Care Committee. She is Chief Economist at Care-Connect, which is a managed care provider for patients with chronic conditions. Along with her medical degree from University College Dublin, she also holds a Masters in Health Economics, Policy & Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD in Economics from University College Dublin. She practised medicine for sixteen years, including seven years as a consultant in anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine. As an economist she designed a pioneering funding model for intensive care patients using micro costing methodology. In 2022 she was appointed to the State Board of the Health Products Regulatory Authority and was previously a member of the State Board of the Health Insurance Authority from 2016 to 2021.

Martin Sisk is a Solicitor by profession but worked for the vast majority of his career in the area of regulation both financial and otherwise covering a wide range of sectors.

Martin served as Registrar of Friendly Societies for over 18 years and subsequently in a number of senior roles in the Central Bank of Ireland for over 7 years.

Since taking early retirement from the Central Bank, he has served in a number of roles including, inter alia, as Chairman of VHI Healthcare. More recently in the second half of 2020 Martin completed his term as a Board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

This reappointment is with effect from 28 February 2023 until 27 February 2026.

Niall is a practising barrister and Accredited Mediator working on the Dublin, Northern, Eastern and Midland Circuits. Prior to commencing practice at the Bar and his work as a mediator he was a strategic communications specialist for 20 years. A former President of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and non-executive Director of the Public Relations Consultants Association, he continues to lecture in strategic communications and directs the PRII’s professional certification programme in issues and crisis communications as well as being engaged for strategic communications assignments.

A BSc (Mgmt) graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he completed his postgraduate studies in law at King’s Inns, Dublin and undertook the Barrister-at-Law degree programme before being called to the Bar of Ireland in 2015. He subsequently completed training as a mediator and enjoys Accredited Mediator status from the Mediators' Institute of Ireland and is a member of its Organisational and Workplace Mediation Committee.

Niall has been a member of the National Oversight and Audit Commission, a statutory body which has an oversight role in the Local Authority sector, since 2020 and was appointed to the board of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in May 2023. Last year he was selected by the Mental Health Commission for its panel of Decision-Making Representatives to be appointed under the Assisted Decision Making Act 2015.

Niall is appointed following a PAS process and is with effect from 25 May 2023 until 24 May 2026.

A highly qualified and experienced professional with over 30 years tenure in executive and non-executive roles in both international and domestic firms, across a variety of disciplines. She possesses a highly developed and insightful business acumen through her senior management and regulatory accredited roles with major industry service providers. She has held a range of non-executive roles over the last 10 years, as Chair, Board Member, and on Audit, Risk and Governance Committees.

Current roles include Director of Investor Compensation Company DAC, Member of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman’s Council, Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland Professional Conduct Committee, Member of the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal and Audit Committee Member of the Public Appointments Service. Prior roles include Chair of NSAI Inc, a US certification body, Member of Board of Ireland’s national standards body, NSAI, and Director of the Compliance Institute.

Her executive career includes roles at Managing Director and Country leadership level for Global financial services firms, as well as roles with a leading legal advisory firm, and as a Senior Regulator with the Central Bank of Ireland. Valerie currently undertakes senior consulting roles mainly in the area of Compliance, Risk and Governance. Qualifications include Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Business Studies honours degrees (UCD), Institute of Directors’ qualification, and Advanced Diploma in Risk Management (UCD). Current study – Post-Graduate Diploma in Sustainability (UCD). Member of the Institute of Directors, Institute of Bankers and Compliance Institute.

Valerie is appointed following a PAS process and is with effect from 25 May 2023 until 24 May 2026.