Assembly Commission Appoints Independent Financial Review Panel

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission has appointed an Independent Panel to determine the salaries, pensions and allowances for Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Patrick McCartan has been appointed Chair of the Independent Financial Review Panel with Alan McQuillan and Dr Henrietta Campbell as the other two members. All panel members will serve a five year term.

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The Independent Financial Review Panel was established by the Northern Ireland Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Act 2011. Determinations made by the Panel are not subject to approval by the Assembly or the Assembly Commission.

Biographical details of the Panel Chair and members are as follows:

Patrick McCartan, CBE, MSc (Dist), FCIPD.

Patrick McCartan is Chairman of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. He is a previous Chairman of North & West Belfast Health & Social Services Trust.

In 2005 he became Chairman of the NI Confederation of Health and Social Services Organisations and is a National Trustee of the NHS Confederation.

He was also Chairman of the Labour Relations Agency from 2002 to 2008 and was awarded theCBEfor services to employment relations.  He is a former Chairman and Board member of Co-Operation Ireland. He was Chairman and Vice-Chair of St Columbanus College Bangor and is a former member of CCMS.

Mr McCartan spent 12 years in a senior academic post in the University of Ulster; he spent 18 years as a senior trade union official and ten years in the Civil Service.  He is a former member of the ICTU Executive Committee and member and Chairman of ICTU – NI Committee and was a founder Board Member of the Industrial Development Board and the NI Economic Council.

Mr McCartan has more than 35 years’ experience as a negotiator, and arbitrator/mediator and consultant in conflict resolution in employment matters. He served as a member of the Industrial Court for NI, as a member of Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunals and as an Independent Expert for Equal Pay cases.

He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.  He currently chairs conflict resolution in public transport in NI (Translink and UNITE), and in Banking (Ulster Bank / IBOA and SIPTU), and (Bank of Ireland and IBOA).

Dr Henrietta Campbell CB, MD, FRCP

Dr Campbell studied medicine at Queen’s University Belfast. Following a career in General Practice she was appointed Chief Medical Officer – a post she held until 2006.

Dr Campbell was awarded an honorary doctorate by Queen’s University Belfast. She was awarded CB in the 2000 New Year’s Honours List.

Dr Campbell is a UK Electoral Commissioner and sits on the Board of the Food Standards Agency. She was a member of the Prison Services Pay Review Body from 2006 to March 2011. Dr Campbell is also a Board member of Oxfam Ireland, the Ulster Cancer Foundation and Threshold.

Alan McQuillan OBE BSc (Hons) MBA

Mr McQuillan is an independent management and security consultant.  He was Acting Deputy Chief Constable in PSNI until 2003 when he retired to join the newly formed Assets Recovery Agency. He helped establish and develop the Agency across the UK and in 2007 was appointed as Director to manage its merger with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency.

He has worked on a voluntary basis with a number of third sector organisations in Northern Ireland.  He has also undertaken a number of international consultancy assignments for the European Union, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the International Monetary Fund.

Mr McQuillan is Chairman of the Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat Audit and Risk Committee but he will resign from that appointment to take up this new post.  He holds a BSC (Hons) Degree in Physics from Queen’s University, Belfast and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Ulster.

For more information on the establishment of the Independent Review Panel visit: https://ifrp.org.uk/background/

For more information please contact:
Susie Brown
Head of Communications
Northern Ireland Assembly
Tel: 028 9052 1161
Mobile: 0777 6198 226
Email: [email protected]