Press release
Minister McGrath announces appointments to the National Shared Services Office Advisory Board
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
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform today announced the appointment of Niamh O’Donoghue as the new Chair of the National Shared Service Office (NSSO) Advisory Board. Ms O’Donoghue previously served as Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection and has been selected for this role on foot of the State Boards appointment process, which is managed by the Public Appointments Service.
The Minister has also appointed Jacqui McCrum, and reappointed David Cagney and Ken Slattery, as Ordinary Members of the Board.
Ms McCrum is the Secretary General of the Department of the Defence, Mr Cagney is the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Civil Service, while Mr Slattery is current a Fellow of the Institute of Banking and previously held a number of senior management positions in Bank of Ireland.
Speaking today, the Minister said,
“I’m delighted to welcome Niamh O’Donoghue as the new Chairperson of the NSSO Advisory Board. Niamh has a distinguished track record and has experience of leading significant organisational transformation projects. I’m sure she will play an important role in supporting the delivery of key reform projects such as the new Finance Management and Reporting System for Central Government.
"In addition I welcome Jacqui McCrum to the Advisory Board as a new Ordinary Member, and the reappointment of David Cagney and Ken Slattery for second terms. Each of these individuals have distinguished track records arising from their respective careers, and I’m pleased that equal gender balance has been achieved in these appointments.
"I also want to thank the outgoing members of the Advisory Board for their contributions, the Public Appointments Service for managing the selection process through the State Boards system, and the many candidates who took part in the selection process.”
Notes for Editors
1. The National Shared Services Office (NSSO) is a statutory body, which provides a range of shared services to Government Departments and Offices. At present it provides HR and Payroll Shared Service to a range of clients across the Civil and Public Service, and it is intended that it will start offering financial services to an initial wave of Government Departments and offices in Q1 2022.
2. The NSSO Advisory Board was established on foot of the legislation establishing the NSSO as an independent office in 2018. The role of the Board is to provide advice and guidance to the CEO of the NSSO, to promote high standards of internal control and governance, and to identify and promote high standards in the performance in the functions of the Office.
3. Niamh O’Donoghue is a Management Consultant and Non-Executive Director who previously served as Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection (the largest civil service organisation in Ireland). In that capacity, she headed an organisation of almost 7,000 staff with an annual budget of 20 billion Euro. She previously served as Director General having joined the Department in December 2007.
4. As a career civil servant she served in a number of Departments and offices including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, the Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners (now the Public Appointments Service) and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. Her work in these organisations developed a longstanding interest in people management, organisation development and service delivery.
5. She has a primary degree in Public Administration from the IPA, a post graduate certificate in Health Economics from University of Aberdeen and also holds an MA (Industrial Relations) from the University of Keele and an MSc (Mgmt) from TCD.
6. She is currently a non executive Director of Rethink Ireland. She previously acted as Board Chairman and Board member of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), Director of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Director of Common Purpose (Ireland) Ltd, and Board member at the Public Appointments Service. She also served as a Bureau member of the International Social Security Association (ISSA)(Geneva) from 2013 to 2017.
7. Jacqui McCrum is a newly appointed Ordinary Member of the Advisory Board. She is the Secretary General of the Department of Defence.
8. David Cagney is the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Civil Service, and has been reappointed as an Ordinary Member of the Board for a second term.
9. Ken Slattery has also been reappointed as an Ordinary Member for a second term. He brings considerable experience to the role following his successful career in the banking sector, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Banking and a Member of the Institute of Directors.
ENDS