Candidates for State boards are being asked to sign a declaration that there is nothing in their past that will cause bad publicity for them or the organisation to which they’re appointed.
The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is asking for a self-declaration that there is no material on public record or social media that could “negatively impact” on their appointment.
The PAS has also hired a company to provide enhanced pre-employment checks after controversy over social media tweets led to the resignation of the chairman of a State board earlier this year.
Internal records detail how discussions began in late February on how best to tackle issues around the social media past of candidates. A senior official in PAS wrote to a colleague saying: “We are thinking of having some form of declaration for candidates applying for State Board positions.
“Something to the effect that ‘there is nothing on public record or on any social media channels that may prohibit my appointment.’ Would you have any advice on this or is it something that we would need to seek legal advice on?”
A follow-up email in early March said: “We cannot seem to identify anyone who could carry out social media checks so would this cover us?”
A response to the query, according to records released under Freedom of Information (FOI), said: “I would suggest something along the following lines:
“I can confirm that there is nothing on public record or on any social media platforms which might negatively impact upon my appointment, or which might cause embarrassment to or bring into disrepute any organisation to which I am assigned (or recommended for appointment) by PAS.”
Enhanced checks
A few weeks later, the PAS began a process to contract a company to provide enhanced pre-employment checks for candidates. A copy of the request for quotes said: “PAS will look to further enhance its assurance procedures with regard to candidate suitability and qualification.”
A firm called Ashtree Risk Group was hired, according to records released under FOI. In correspondence with Ashtree, the PAS said the checks should cover employment history, qualifications, director checks, sanctions watch list and public domain searches.
Also specified were trawls of EU consolidated blacklists, credit judgments, financial checks, and “any specialist checks required for specific campaigns”.
A letter said: “PAS will have secured written informed consent from each person before sending the names securely.”
The changes followed embarrassment for Government when the new chairman of a State board was forced to resign within a day of his appointment by the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan.
Shannon Group
Aaron Forde had been picked as the new chairman of the Shannon Group from a panel of three candidates but stepped down after controversial posts on Twitter came to light.
A spokeswoman for the PAS said: “[Our role] is to assist the government in the process of securing qualified and suitable candidates for consideration by ministers for appointments to State boards. Since April 2021, we require all applicants to complete a self-declaration form.”
She said the self-declaration was in addition to verification and pre-employment checks and the change to procedure was designed to further strengthen the processes that were already in place for vetting of candidates.
