Vol. 427 No. 8
124 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of persons employed in his constituency office, his private office and those of his Minister of State; the rank of each person; and the salary paid.
The names, salaries, qualifications, suitability and party membership, or otherwise, of each of the advisers/programme managers/personal assistant/personal secretary appointed in my capacity as Tánaiste and as Minister for Foreign Affairs have all been published by me on numerous occasions, in the Dáil in answer to parliamentary questions, in speeches, on radio, on television and in each of the national newspapers. All of this information is a matter of detailed public record and I have no new information to add to this subject.
In relation to the appointments from within the civil service, the private office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs consists of my Private Secretary, who is employed on the appropriate point of the Third Secretary scale, with the allowance normally paid to a private secretary. He is assisted by two executive officers, two clerical officers and a clerical assistant typist, each of them on the appropriate point of the relevant scale. They carry out the duties related to the work of my office as Minister.
The constituency office employs an executive officer, a clerical officer and a clerical assistant shorthand typist, each also on the appropriate point of the relevant scale.
With regard to the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, his office consists of his Private Secretary, who is employed on the appropriate point of the higher executive officer scale, with the allowance normally paid to a Private Secretary, a clerical officer, and three clerical assistant typists, all on the appropriate points of the relevant scales.
Details of the civil service staff working in the office of the Minister of State at the Office of Tánaiste are contained in the reply to the same question posed to the Minister for Finance.
The total number of civil service staff in my private and constituency offices are well within Government guidelines for such appointments. The relevant salaries for the grades concerned are a matter of public record and are available in the State Directory.
