asked the Minister for the Public Service if he will state in respect of the proposal to create additional Ministers at various Departments, the likely annual additional cost in terms of (a) the provision of official cars; (b) the provision of staff for personal offices; (c) the provision of office space at current average city centre rental costs; (d) the salaries and allowances of each Minister and (e) other costs; and the basis upon which such calculations have been made.
Written Answers. - Cost of Ministerial Appointments.
352.
The Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 1977, has already been circulated. Section 1 of that Bill provides for the appointment by the Government, on the nomination of the Taoiseach, of not more than ten Ministers of State while section 6 provides for the repeal of the provisions in the Ministers and Secretaries Acts dealing with Parliamentary Secretaries. Pending the enactment of that legislation and the subsequent Government decisions on the number of Ministers of State to be appointed and on the Departments to which they are to be assigned, it is not possible to indicate the likely cost in terms of (a), (b), (c) and (e) of the question.
I propose, shortly, to introduce a further Bill dealing with the salaries of Ministers of State. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for me to comment on (d).