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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 20 Feb 2002

Vol. 549 No. 1

Written Answers. - Civil Service Pay Rates.

Question:

146 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to differentials in pay rates and terms of employment of legal persons employed at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions due to his Department's regulations (details supplied). [6049/02]

A significant number of staff who are serving in legal posts in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions were appointed from open recruitment competitions.

Candidates who are successful in an open recruitment competition receive a starting salary equal to the minimum of the incremental pay scale in question, irrespective of whether they are already working in the Civil Service or working in outside employment. However, both categories of candidate may, in certain circumstances, receive a starting salary which exceeds the minimum of the pay-scale in question.
Where a prospective appointee is working outside the Civil Service immediately prior to appointment and is not a civil servant, the employing Department may consider offering the candidate a starting salary above the minimum of the pay-scale in question provided that; such a provision has been made in the conditions of service set by the Civil Service Commissioners for the competition; the candidate is deemed to have appropriate qualifications and-or experience which merit the payment of additional increment(s) on the pay-scale concerned; the candidate can prove that he-she is currently in outside employment and is being remunerated at some point above the minimum of the incremental pay-scale for the position concerned; and the candidate has applied in writing to negotiate his-her starting salary in advance of accepting his-her appointment to the Civil Service.
Any higher starting salary which, in compliance with the conditions just outlined, is determined by negotiation between the Civil Service department and the prospective appointee, cannot exceed the salary of the individual concerned in his-her previous employment.
In the case of an existing civil servant, starting pay may be set at existing pay plus an ‘accrued increment', i.e. that portion of the current increment which has been ‘earned by' or has been ‘accrued' by the officer, if such a level of remuneration is more favourable than the minimum of the grade to which the individual is being appointed.
This affords a significant protection to the candidate who is already a civil servant in that it at least preserves his or her existing level of remuneration in all circumstances.
Other than the points outlined above, I am not aware of any differential in the terms of employment of staff serving in legal positions within the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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