PRESS RELEASE 31st JULY 2009
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Honourable Jack Straw MP, has reappointed Mrs Fiona Donnelly, Mr Joe Donnelly, Mrs Hilary McCartan and Mr Wilson Matthews as members to the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission. These reappointments take effect from 1 September 2009 for a period of three years.
The Lord Chancellor has also invited Mr Les Allamby, Mr Ronnie Spence CB, Dr Jeremy Harbison CB, Ms Breidge Gadd CBE and Mr Miceal McCoy to continue as members to the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission for a further period of 18 months. The Lord Chancellor expressed his gratitude to the Members who have agreed to remain in office to bring to a conclusion the work of the Commission on reforming civil legal aid. These extensions take effect from 1 August 2009.
Remuneration of members is determined by the Lord Chancellor. The remuneration payable from 1 April 2009 is £10,688 for preparation and attendance at all Board and Committee meetings. The remuneration is calculated on the basis of 32 workings days at £334 per day. In addition, payment may be made for ad-hoc work (payable at £334 per day or £167 per half day) involving meetings and activities in support of the Commission’s work.
These reappointments and extensions have been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies. The appointees have confirmed that they have not undertaken any political activity during the past 5 years.
ENDS
The Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission has statutory responsibility for administering legal aid in Northern Ireland and plays a key role in the modernisation of publicly funded legal services in Northern Ireland.
Ms Donnelly has wide ranging experience gained in both the academic and practising legal arena. Ms Donnelly is the principal of Fiona Donnelly, solicitors and an Associate Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at the Queen’s University Belfast. Ms Donnelly does not currently hold any other public appointments.
Mr Donnelly has had a long standing and extensive legal career. He is a Partner in Anderson Agnew & Co and is a former President of the Law Society for Northern Ireland of which he remains an active member. Mr Donnelly does not currently hold any other public appointments.
Mrs McCartan is a chartered accountant. Mrs McCartan has two other public
appointments; a Non-Executive Director of the Probation Board for Northern
Ireland (salary £5050) and a Non-Executive Director of the Business Services
Organisation (DHSSPS) (salary £5296).
Mrs McCartan also serves as a Member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the
Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) (attendance
fee of £265 per day).
Mr Matthews is an accountant with a long standing and wide ranging experience of finance in the provision of Health and Social Services. He is also a member of the Audit Committee Institute (Northern Ireland). Mr Matthews does not currently hold any other public appointments.
Mr Allamby is director of Law Centre (NI). He is a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee (attendance fee £253 per day). Mr Allamby is a member of the Advice Services Alliance, an executive member of the Committee for the Administration of Justice and a trustee for the Community Foundation Northern Ireland.
Mr Spence is a former Permanent Secretary in the Northern Ireland Civil
Service. He is
Chairman of the Ulster Sports Museum Association and a Director of the Camphill
Communities Trust (NI). He has contributed to the work of Northern Ireland’s two
universities and chaired companies in the private sector.
Mr Spence is Chairman of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (£33, 010
based on a commitment of nine days per month), and a Deputy Chair and Trustee of
the National Heritage Lottery Fund (£20,442 based on a commitment of three days
per month).
Dr Harbison is the Chair of the NI Social Care Council (salary £17,000) and a Non-executive Director of the Public Health Agency (salary £8800). He is also a Council member of the University of Ulster and a Trustee of the Community Foundation for NI. Previously he had worked in the Northern Ireland Civil Service across a broad range of policy areas.
Ms Gadd retired from the Probation Board for Northern Ireland in May 2000 after 14 years as its Chief Probation Officer. She is currently the Northern Ireland Chair of the Big Lottery Fund (salary £24,883) and is a weekly columnist on a local daily newspaper.]#
Mr McCoy has spent his career working in the agriculture, rural and livestock sectors. He is currently Chairman of the Rural Development Strategy. Mr McCoy does not currently hold any other public appointments.
If you have any further queries about this or other court related matters
please contact:
Patricia Quinn, Press Officer
Northern Ireland Court Service
Laganside House, 23-27 Oxford Street, BELFAST, BT1 3LA
Telephone: 028 9041 2387
Email: pressteam@courtsni.gov.uk