Appointment as Chairperson of the Board of the Health Service Executive (HSE)

The closing date for this vacancy is 24/11/2026, 15:00

Vacancy ID

10420

Department/Authority

Minister for Health

Department/Authority Website

https://www.hse.ie/

Advertising Date

03/11/2026

County

Dublin

Location

Dublin

Closing Date for Application

24/11/2026, 15:00

Type of role

Civil Service

Accessibility Information: We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act. Please see our Statement on Accessibility

Please note that the language you choose to begin your application with cannot be changed once the "Apply" button is selected. If your application form is in English, your communications will be in English.

To submit your application through Irish and receive communications in Irish, please ensure you are on the Irish language version of our website www.publicjobs.ie/ga before you access the vacancy you wish to apply for, and click "Déan iarratas" to apply.

Role Overview

The Minister for Health invites applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the position of Chairperson to the Board of the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Essential

Candidates should have a career history at a sufficiently senior level in a complex organisation of scale or equivalent business experience which would provide evidence of: • Significant strategic leadership experience with a proven track record of organisational management and organisational improvement preferably in a distributed and highly complex organisation;

• Demonstrable leadership of transformational change and reconfiguration in complex environments and a track record in implementing major system-wide reform;

• Experience in performance management, and the presentation and interpretation of performance information, a capacity to quickly develop an understanding of the economics of health care and the budgets required to achieve the organisation’s mission;

• A capacity to quickly develop an understanding of the complex legal and regulatory environment in which the HSE operates;

• An understanding of the complexity of providing evidence-based, high quality and safe care, including risk management;

• Significant board level experience, with the confidence and resilience to lead the Board of a complex and high-profile organisation;

• Ability to ensure that the Board guides, challenges and supports the CEO and executive team to deliver major reform whilst holding them to account in doing so;

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to develop constructive relationships with all relevant stakeholders.

While previous Healthcare experience is not a prerequisite, the candidate should be able to demonstrate successful leadership experience and success in an organisation or sector of an equivalent scope and scale as the HSE.

Closing Date: 15:00 on Tuesday 24th November 2026

Information Booklet Health Service Executive (HSE).pdf – 749KB Opens in a new window https://publicjobs.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-4/candidate/download_file_opp/10420/406178/1/0/fe3f82ac5743793d68023699879e83f3e638dbda

10420 Appointment as Chairperson

of the

Board of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Location: Dublin Client: Minister for Health Closing Date: 15:00 on Tuesday 24th November 2026

State Boards Division publicjobs publicjobs refers to Public Appointments Service established under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004-2013. The Public Appointments Service (PAS), established under statute in 2004, provides an independent shared service in recruitment, assessment and selection to organisations across the Civil and Public Services. publicjobs also has responsibility for providing an open, accessible, rigorous and transparent system to support Ministers in making appointments to State Boards. Our dedicated website, www.publicjobs.ie, is the channel through which publicjobs advertises vacancies on State Boards. It is also the means through which accomplished, experienced and qualified people, including people who might not previously have been identified as available for appointment, can then apply to be considered for particular vacancies.

Contact: State Boards publicjobs Email: [email protected] URL: www.publicjobs.ie

Membership of State Boards High standards of corporate governance in all State Agencies, whether in the commercial or non-commercial sphere, are critical to ensuring a positive contribution to the State’s overall social and economic development. Members of State Boards are appointed to act on behalf of the citizen to oversee the running of the affairs of state bodies. State bodies must serve the interests of the taxpayer, pursue value for money in their endeavours (including managing risk appropriately), and act transparently as public entities. Members of State Boards, and the relevant management team, are accountable for the proper management of the organisation. Board members should act on a fully informed basis, in good faith, with due diligence and care, and in the best interest of the State body, subject to the objectives set by Government. In that regard and in accordance with 13.2 of the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards, “it is advisable that no member of a State Board should serve more than two full terms of appointment or should hold appointments to more than two State Boards.” The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016 (the Code) provides a framework for the application of best practice in corporate governance by both commercial and non-commercial State bodies.

In order to be an effective contributor on a State Board it is recommended that members should: • • • •

bring independent and objective scrutiny to the oversight of the organisation; be prepared to be challenging when necessary while being supportive to the delivery of organisational strategy and objectives; be equipped to offer considered advice on the basis of sound judgement and experience; be prepared to make a time commitment to their work commensurate with their role.

Appointment as Chairperson of the Board of the Health Service Executive (HSE)

Location of Meetings:

Dr. Steeven’s Hospital Steeven’s Lane Dublin 8, D08 W2A8

Number of Vacancies:

1

Remuneration:

€80,000 Travel and subsistence is paid at appropriate Civil Service Rates. (It should be noted that in line with the ‘One Person One Salary’ principle, no public servant will be entitled to receive remuneration in the form of board fees, save for situations that are statutorily provided for e.g. Worker Directors).

Time Requirements:

Up to two days per week. 11 Board Meetings per annum. 4 Quarterly Meetings with the Department of Health and the HSE per annum. 4 Quarterly Meetings with Department of Children, Disability and Equality, and the HSE per annum. Length of meeting time: Full Day. Candidates should be aware that additional meetings may occasionally be convened. Candidates will be required to attend periodic in-person meetings and stakeholder engagements throughout the year, mostly taking place in Dublin. These meetings may occasionally be arranged at short notice.

1. Background The Health Service Executive (HSE) is Ireland’s publicly funded national healthcare system, responsible for providing health and personal social services to the public. Established in 2005, it has an annual budget of c. €29 billion and employs over 160,000 staff who manage everything from acute hospitals and primary care centres to disability and mental health support. The HSE delivers a comprehensive suite of services across the country, The HSE is currently operating under the framework of Sláintecare, a 10-year transformation program aimed at building a more unified, regionally focused health system. Under this model, the organisation manages care across six new Health Regions, bringing hospital and community care closer together at a local level.

The Board of the Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been given the responsibility by the Oireachtas to use the resources available to it in the most beneficial, effective and efficient manner to improve, promote and protect the health and welfare of the public. The Board governance structure, with strong competencies across key areas, is a key component in supporting this objective by strengthening HSE governance and contributing to the effective oversight and performance of the HSE. Reflecting the priorities set out in the HSE Corporate Plan 2025 – 2027, the board's principal areas of focus include: •

• • • •

Providing strategic oversight of the HSE's efforts to improve population health, reduce health inequalities and support healthier communities through prevention and early intervention. Ensuring effective governance and assurance arrangements are in place to support the delivery of high-quality, safe and person-centred health and social care services. Overseeing the transformation of services to ensure care is delivered in the most appropriate setting and as close to home as possible. Monitoring performance and capacity to support timely, equitable access to services and improved outcomes for patients and service users. Strengthening the foundations of the health service through effective governance, workforce development, digital enablement, financial stewardship and organisational capability.

Working closely with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the senior leadership team, it is the Board’s role to satisfy itself, on an ongoing basis, that the HSE is well run and that it is held to account for its performance. There will be a need to provide strong leadership in developing an organisational culture that delivers for patients and service users, in line with Government health policy. The Board will also have an important role in overseeing organisational capability, including the effectiveness, capacity, skills and experience of senior leadership within the organisation. The HSE Board is committed to ensuring that the HSE operates as a highly transparent organisation which provides high-quality information about all aspects of its performance. The HSE has an accountability and reporting relationship with both the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE).

2. Functions of the Board The Board of the HSE is collectively responsible for achieving the HSE's objectives and, among other responsibilities, for overseeing the delivery of health and personal social services as outlined in the Health Acts 1947 to 2019. In accordance with Part 3B of the Health Act 2004 (as amended) the Board has been assigned key statutory functions. (1) The Board is the governing body of the Executive with authority, in the name of the Executive, to perform the functions of the Executive. (2) The Board shall: (a) satisfy itself that appropriate systems, procedures and practices are in place (i) to achieve the HSE’s object, (ii) for the internal performance management and accountability of the HSE in respect of the HSE’s (I) performance of its functions, (II) achieving objectives in accordance with the corporate plan, and (III) delivery of health and personal social services in accordance with this Act, and (iii) in order to enable compliance with the policies (whether set out in codes, guidelines or other documents, or any combination thereof) of the Government or a Minister of the Government to the extent that those policies may affect or relate to the functions of the HSE, and (b) Establish and implement arrangements for the management of the performance of the Chief Executive Officer. Committees of the HSE Board: The following Committees are currently established by the Board: (a) Audit and Risk Committee (b) Performance and Planning Committee (c) Strategy and Reform Committee Role of the Chairperson The Chairperson shall be responsible for leadership of the Board and ensuring its effectiveness in all aspects of its role. The Chairperson shall display high standards of integrity and probity and set expectations regarding culture, values, and behaviours for the State body and for the tone of discussions at Board level.

The appointed candidate will: •

• • • •

Chair a Board which is engaged in ongoing change, possessing the leadership experience required to ensure that the Board guides, challenges and supports the CEO and HSE executive team to deliver, whilst holding them to account in doing so; Play a central role in relation to the direction, leadership and corporate and clinical governance of the HSE; Foster a positive relationship with the HSE CEO in order to facilitate the conduct of good governance; Support and challenge the CEO and HSE Executive team; Promote a culture of accountability, and ensure that the HSE demonstrates value achieved for the very significant public funds made available to health and disabilities, and instil an organisational culture of continuous improvement;

Develop a constructive relationship with stakeholders, including the Minister for Health, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, their respective Departments, and the Government. Current composition of the Board: Name

First Appointed

Reappointed

Expiry Date

Position type

Ciarán Devane

28/06/2019

28/06/2024

27/06/2027

Chairperson

Yvonne Traynor (Dr)

28/06/2019

28/06/2022

27/06/2027

Deputy Chairperson

Anne Carrigy

12/03/2021

12/03/2024

11/03/2029

Board Member

28/06/2019

28/06/2022

27/06/2027

Board Member

12/03/2021

12/03/2024

11/03/2029

Board Member

Aogán Ó Fearghail Brendan Whelan Kenneth Mealy

30/09/2024

29/09/2027

Board Member

Lily Collison

30/09/2024

29/09/2027

Board Member

Matt Walsh

15/05/2023

27/06/2027

Board Member

Michael Cawley

30/09/2024

29/09/2027

Board Member

Patrick Bailey

20/11/2025

19/11/2028

Board Member

Tim Hynes

28/06/2019

27/06/2027

Board Member

Vacancy

28/06/2024

28/06/2022

Board Member

The composition of the Board is set out in legislation as follows: The board shall consist of a chairperson, a deputy chairperson, and 10 ordinary members. • •

•

at least two of the persons on the Board shall have experience of, or experience in, advocacy in relation to matters affecting patients, at least two of the persons on the Board shall be persons who are practising or have practised as a member of a health profession (as defined), whether in or outside the State, at least one of the persons on the Board shall be a person with experience of, or expertise in, financial matters

Further details on the governance arrangements of the HSE, including the role, responsibilities and functions of the Board, are set out in the HSE Code of Governance 2025. 3. Person Specification The Minister for Health invites applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the positions of Chairperson to the Board of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Candidate’s attention is drawn to the general details of the role of Chairperson as set out on page 18 of the Code which can be found here. The Principle states: •

The Chairperson is responsible for leadership of the board and ensuring its effectiveness on all aspects of its role.

•

The Chairperson should display high standards of integrity and probity and set expectations regarding culture, values, and behaviours for the State body and for the tone of discussions at board level.

Essential Candidates should have a career history at a sufficiently senior level in a complex organisation of scale or equivalent business experience which would provide evidence of: •

Significant strategic leadership experience with a proven track record of organisational management and organisational improvement preferably in a distributed and highly complex organisation;

•

Demonstrable leadership of transformational change and reconfiguration in complex environments and a track record in implementing major system-wide reform;

•

Experience in performance management, and the presentation and interpretation of performance information, a capacity to quickly develop an understanding of the economics of health care and the budgets required to achieve the organisation’s mission;

•

A capacity to quickly develop an understanding of the complex legal and regulatory environment in which the HSE operates;

•

An understanding of the complexity of providing evidence-based, high quality and safe care, including risk management;

•

Significant board level experience, with the confidence and resilience to lead the Board of a complex and high-profile organisation;

•

Ability to ensure that the Board guides, challenges and supports the CEO and executive team to deliver major reform whilst holding them to account in doing so;

•

Excellent communication skills and the ability to develop constructive relationships with all relevant stakeholders.

While previous Healthcare experience is not a prerequisite, the candidate should be able to demonstrate successful leadership experience and success in an organisation or sector of an equivalent scope and scale as the HSE. The Minister encourages applications from diverse, qualified candidates to ensure the Board is a true reflection of Irish society and shall have regard to the desirability for gender balance, diversity and inclusion on the Board as the Minister considers appropriate and determines from time to time when making appointments, in line with the updated Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016. In order to qualify for appointment a person must not have any legal impediment or conflicts of interest likely to interfere with his/her ability to assume the role of Chairperson of the Board. Please give careful consideration to the possibility of any potential conflict of interest that may exist and address this in your cover letter. The Assessment Panel may decide, based on the perceived level of conflict, not to forward your name for consideration.

4.

Term of Appointment

Appointment as Chairperson of the Board will be for an initial period of 5 years and may be extended for one further term of up to 5 years, 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.

5.

•

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 Part 3B of the Health Act 2004 (as amended), hold office upon such terms and conditions as the Minister for Health may, after consultation with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and 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 or becomes a member of a local authority.

Submitting your Application

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 (see Appendix 1 of this booklet for help with the online process). 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: i.

Ensure your Cover Letter (and supporting CV) clearly specifies how your particular background and experience meets the requirements of the Authority position(s) specified in this booklet, and

ii.

That you fully answer any supplementary questions which are presented to you as part of our online application process.

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 [email protected].

regarding

the

application

process

please

email

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

•

review and discuss the expressions of interest received against the specific appointment criteria for the role, as advertised in this Information Booklet; assess potential candidates further once they meet the specified appointment criteria by undertaking any or all of the following steps: o Consideration of the written applications; and/or o Meeting/conference call; and/or o Referee checks; and/or o Any other selection or verification method deemed appropriate (this may include publicjobs requiring statutory declarations from shortlisted applicants as to the bona fides of the qualifications and experience contained in their applications). 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. 7. Confidentiality 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.

8. Protected Disclosures The publicjobs Protected Disclosures Policy (including Reporting Options for all those covered by the Policy) is available here 9. Data Protection

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.

APPENDIX 1 In order to submit your application, you should take the following steps: 1. Go to www.publicjobs.ie. 2. On the bar at the top of the page navigate to State Boards and click on ‘Available Appointments’ on the dropdown menu.

3. This brings you to a page with all our advertised vacancies. Select whichever position you would like to apply for (you are welcome to apply for more than one position if you wish). 4. On the relevant page please click on the ‘Apply’ button in the top right or at the bottom of the page. 5. Clicking ‘Apply’ will bring you to the registration page of our recruitment platform. (a) If you are accessing our recruitment platform for the first time you must register to create a new profile. Follow the instructions under ‘Register’ and click ‘Submit Registration’ to register your profile. You will have to complete an email verification step to complete your registration. Follow the link sent to the email address associated with your new account to verify your email. You can now login to your new account as detailed below. (b) If you already have an account, please select the 'Login' button in the top righthand corner or the ‘Login’ link at the bottom of the registration page. 6. Clicking ‘Login’ will redirect you to the login page. Follow the instructions to login to your account. Your username will be the email address associated with your account, and your username and password are case sensitive. 7. Once you login a form will appear on your screen. Follow the instructions on each page and answer all required questions (marked with an asterisk ‘*’). If you have submitted an application through the platform before, some text boxes will be populated with the information you entered on your most recent application. 8. If there is a supplementary question, ensure that your response complies with the word limit and that it does not contain any special characters (i.e. %, & etc.) or you may receive an error message and will be unable to submit your application. 9. You will be required to upload your CV and Cover Letter under the section titled ‘Additional Documents’. These are required documents, and your application cannot be processed without them. Once you have selected these and uploaded them, please click on the ‘Save and Continue’ button at the bottom of the page. 10. Once you have completed your application please press ‘Submit’ on the final page. The system will highlight any areas which require updating if there are any errors. 11. You will receive an e-mail confirmation (to the address listed in your publicjobs.ie profile) to confirm that your application has been submitted. Please visit the Help Centre if you have questions or encounter technical difficulties navigating the site or making your application. publicjobs will primarily send communication through your publicjobs candidate portal and email. Please check your candidate portal on a regular basis as email notifications of updates

on the campaign issued to your candidate portal may sometimes be filtered into your Junk/Spam email folders (or ‘Promotions’ in the case of Gmail). The onus is on each applicant to ensure that they are in receipt of all communication from publicjobs. publicjobs accepts no responsibility for communication not accessed or received by an applicant. It is strongly recommended that you do not change your email address or mobile phone number during the course of this campaign, as any email/text message notification will be sent to the email address/telephone number originally supplied by you.

Register to be notified about future Board vacancies: If you are interested in hearing about future board vacancies, you can keep up to date by using the job alert feature to be notified when new roles become available. To set up a job alert for appointments to State Boards and other Board vacancies follow the steps below: •

Log in or create an account (see Appendix 1 for instructions on registering a new account).

•

Once you have logged in, navigate to your profile settings which can be found by clicking your name in the top righthand corner of your screen.

•

Under the ‘Profile Options’ menu select the ‘Alert Centre’ option.

•

Click ‘Create New Job Alert’

•

Name your job alert in the ‘Alert Title’ field. This can help you keep track of your alerts should you set up more than one.

•

To direct the system to notify you when new State Board and other board roles become available select the following options under ‘Category’: ‘Membership of a State Board’ and ‘’Membership of a Board’.

•

Select the preferred length of time you would like to receive the job alert for under ‘Time Limit’ field. Please note that a job alert cannot be set up indefinitely and will need to be renewed once your selected time limit has elapsed.

•

Click ‘Save’ to begin receiving your job alert.

QO O . . va poistphoibli Sao publicjobs publicjobs, Chapter House, 26/30 Upper Abbey Street, Dublin I. Eircode: DOI C7W6. Phone: Ol 858 7400 You can also keep up to date on publicjobs.ie and follow us on our social platforms: noe x Od