16 March 2010 - Appointment of Chair and Members of the Statistics Advisory Committee

The appointments are for a five year term and take effect from 8 March 2010.

Mr Philip McDonagh, who has previously served as a member on the Committee, has been appointed as Chairman and replaces Mr Mike Stevenson in the post. In addition, Professor David Jones and Mrs Esther Ervin have been appointed as members. They will join the five existing members of the Committee.

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

Notes to editors:

1. The Statistics Advisory Committee is responsible for advising NI Departments on all matters relating to the collection and disclosure of statistical information from businesses under the Statistics of Trade and Employment (NI) Order 1988; and for advising on issues such as quality assurance, National Statistics, Codes of Practice and such matters as may be referred to it by departments.
2. Mr McDonagh has over 30 years experience working in the field of economics and statistics. He spent 24 years as Chief Economist for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Northern Ireland, and prior to that worked as Senior Research Officer with the Northern Ireland Economic Council. Mr McDonagh has been a member of the Statistics Advisory Committee since April 2005 (non remunerated) and is currently a Commissioner for the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland for which he receives £2,000 per annum.
3. Professor David Jones is currently employed by Queen’s University Belfast where he has worked since 1994 in the School of Pharmacy. Professor Jones is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and has expertise across a range of statistical matters. Professor Jones was a member of the Central Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee between 2000 and 2003 and currently holds a non-remunerated post on the Board of Governors of the Royal School, Dungannon.
4. Mrs Ervin is a retired school principal and has held a number of positions on public bodies. She served as a member of Rural Community Network between 2003 and 2005, and as a member of Banbridge Local Strategy Partnership between 2003 and 2008. Mrs Ervin also held a position as Chair of the Ulster Farmers Union Rural Affairs Committee and was a school governor for Fairhill primary school between 2001 and 2009. Mrs Ervin currently holds no public appointments.
5. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland’s Code of Practice.
6. All appointments to the Statistics Advisory Committee are made with the approval of the Minister for Finance and Personnel.
7. Positions on the Statistics Advisory Committee are non-remunerated.
8. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. The new appointees have declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.
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