The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is seeking applications from people with a “demonstrable understanding of the agriculture and food industry” to join the board of the Teagasc Authority.
Teagasc currently has an 11 member board but a number of board members are scheduled to retire from the board next month.
The organisation, which employs more than 1,400 people at 52 locations throughout Ireland, has a yearly operating budget of over €200 million.
The chair of the board is Liam Herhily who was recently reappointed for a second five-year term, by the Minister for Agriculture.
Herhily, who is a farmer from Co.Waterford, will begin his second term as chair from September 17, 2023.
Another board member, Prof. Thia Hennessy, Dean of Cork University Business School (CUBS) at University College Cork (UCC), was also reappointed recently for a second five-year term to the Teagasc Authority by Minister Charlie McConalogue.
Teagasc board
Candidates who want to apply to become a member of the board of Teagasc should, according to the recruitment advert for the position, have experience of research and development in the food and the food processing industry and also have scientific and practical knowledge of relevance to the agricultural and food industry.
It also details that potential board members should have:
- An understanding of the climate challenges confronting the Irish agriculture and food sector;
- Corporate governance and compliance experience;
- Previous board membership;
- Previous experience on an audit/risk committee;
- Financial experience.
Members of the Teagasc board receive a yearly salary of €11,970 and are required to take part in 11 Authority meetings and four committee meetings.
Currently there are four women and seven men on the board of Teagasc.
The government has set a target of a minimum of 40% representation of each gender in the membership of state boards.
Earlier this year Minister McConalogue urged state bodies to “improve” the representation of women on their boards.
He previously said that in relation to the 12 state bodies for which he has responsibility for, there was an under representation of women on these boards.
The recruitment advert for appointments to the Teagasc board states: “The minister encourages applications from diverse, qualified candidates to ensure the Teagasc Authority is a true reflection of Irish society and shall have regard to the desirability for gender balance, diversity and inclusion.”