Appointment of two Council Members to the Patient & Client Council
Date published:
The Health Minister, Robbie Butler, has announced the reappointment of two Council Members (Lay) to the Patient and Client Council (PCC)
Mr Stephen Mathews and Mr Tom Irvine’s reappointments commenced on 12 September 2026 and will end on a date not later than 11 September 2030.
Council Member positions attract an annual remuneration of £4,219 with a time commitment of 2 days per month.
These appointments are made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.
The PCC was established by the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (NI) 2009 to provide a powerful, independent voice for the public in the development of policy on, and provision of HSC services, in line with its statutory functions.
The PCC Council is made up of a Chair and 16 Council Members (5 members of district councils; 5 members of voluntary organisations with an interest in health and social care; and 1 member of a trade union). This formulation also allows an additional 5 members with no sectoral specification: “Lay” members.
Notes to editors:
- Stephen Mathews OBE was Chief Executive of The Cedar Foundation, a disability organisation, retiring in 2021 after completing over 30 years’ service. At Cedar he oversaw the development of a range of innovative, award winning, services based on community engagement, participation, and inclusion including Supported Community Living for people with complex needs. He was awarded an OBE in 2010 for services to people with a disability. A graduate of the Universities of Ulster and Birmingham, he is a past Chair of 3rd sector leadership organisation CO3, establishing its Health and Social Care Special Interest group during his tenure. Stephen was recently reappointed as a Commissioner to the NI Equality Commission. The position attracts renumeration of £5,000 per annum and requires a time commitment of 2 days per month.
- Tom Irvine graduated from Queens University Belfast with a BSc.in physics. Joining Ford Motor Company in 1974 he has extensive experience in finance, human resources and management development training. After spending 32 years with Ford, Tom took early retirement to work in the public sector as a part-time pension lecturer with the North-West Regional College and the pension tutor for Unite the Union in Northern Ireland. He has 19 years’ experience in both private and public sectors and spent 7 years as a Trustee Director of the Ford/Visteon Pension Scheme and 8 years as a Board Member of the Northern Ireland Local Government Pension Scheme (NILGOSC) serving for a short time as Chairman and Deputy Chairman. Currently he is an Independent Assessor for Public Appointments in Northern Ireland.
- These reappointments to the PCC were made by the previous Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt.
- 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. Mr Mathews and Mr Irvine have both declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.
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