New Chair and members appointed to Northern Ireland Skills Council

The Department for Economy has announced the appointment of a new Chair and seven new members to the Northern Ireland Skills Council (NISC).

Chair and seven new members appointed to Northern Ireland Skills Council

Mrs Kathleen O’Hare has been appointed to serve as Chair.

Caroline Van Der Feltz, Annie Millar, Ann Morgan, Mary Meehan and Dr Frances Weldon have been appointed to serve as business members. Mark Langhammer has been appointed to serve as a trade union member, and Deborah O’Hare has been appointed to serve as a voluntary and community member. All appointments took effect from 1 June 2023 and are for a period of four years.

The NISC is an advisory body which provides strategic advice on issues pertaining to the development and implementation of skills policy. The Council primarily focuses on the Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland - ‘Skills for a 10x Economy’ - but also considers the broader context of the underpinning importance of skills in meeting the objectives of the economic vision for Northern Ireland ‘10x Economy: Northern Ireland’s Decade of Innovation’.

The appointments have been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland Code of Practice.

Notes to editors: 

1. Pen pictures can be found on the Department’s website.

2. The rate of remuneration for the Chair is currently £4,656.00 per annum (based on 16 days’ work per year), and for a Council member £1,788.00 per annum (based on 12 days’ work per annum).

3. The Chair and members will initially be appointed for a term of four years. Subject to satisfactory performance, the Chair and Members may be offered reappointment at the end of their term for a further period.

4. As an unregulated body DfE ran the competition in the spirt of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Northern Ireland (CPANI) Code of Practice.

5. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.

6. To keep up to date with news from the Department you can follow us on the following social media channels:

• Twitter – @Economy_NI
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• Instagram – economy_ni
• LinkedIn – Department for the Economy NI 

7. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk

8. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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