Martin Higgins was Chief Executive of safefood, one of the cross-border bodies set up under the Good Friday Agreement, for 14 years until his retirement. Prior to that, he worked in the Department of Health for many years specialising in finance, and later in public health regulation.

He is an experienced board member having served on the boards of the Irish Medicines Board, the health and social care professionals regulator Coru, and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. He is currently chair of the board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

Martin has a keen interest in governance and is former chair of the audit and risk committees of both COMREG and An Bord Pleanála. He is currently a member of the Health Research Board’s audit and risk committee.

A professional accountant with additional qualifications in governance, regulation and health economics, Martin is member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.