New Chiefs Appointed At DSD Agencies

6 January 2004
NEW CHIEFS APPOINTED AT DSD AGENCIES
New Chief Executives have been appointed to head up the Social Security and Child Support Agencies at the Department for Social Development.

Gerry Keenan is to be the new Chief Executive at the Social Security Agency and Barney McGahan will succeed Mr Keenan as Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency. Both take up their new appointments from January 12.
NOTES TO EDITORS:

Mr Keenan joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 1966. He has wide experience of central administrative and policy matters in the public sector. His previous posts included Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency, Director of Personnel and Information and Director of Operations in the Social Security Agency.

Barney McGahan is currently the Chief Operations Officer and Director of Working Age Services in the Social Security Agency. He joined the former Department of Health and Social Services in 1976 and became an associate member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 1981. He has worked as Internal Auditor with the Southern Health and Social Services Board, as Director of Finance in the Armagh and Dungannon Unit of Management (now a Health and Social Services Trust) and as Director of Financial Management in the Health and Social Services Executive. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Armagh College of Further and Higher Education and Chairman of the charity Employers for Childcare.

The Social Security Agency has an annual programme expenditure of Ł3.5 billion with running costs of Ł150 million and a staff of 6500.

The Child Support Agency delivers its services to the people in Northern Ireland and has a budget of Ł16 million and a staff of 470. The Child Support Agency also delivers its services to the people of Eastern England and has a budget of Ł34 million and about 1230 Northern Ireland civil servants working in Belfast and some 600 Great Britain civil servants who provide local services from various sites in Eastern England.

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