Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 October 2011
5 Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if he will provide details of the cost to him, including salaries, relating to supporting him and Ministers of State in their constituency work during the 100 days following his appointment. [24712/11]
View answer6 Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach the number of persons employed in his private office and in his constituency office; the salary paid to each person; and if he will provide a breakdown of the responsibilities of each person. [28192/11]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 6 together.
There are 11 staff working in my private office. Eight of these staff are civil servants, two are my personal assistants and one is my personal secretary.
There are five staff working in my constituency office. Three are based in Government Buildings, one of whom is a civil servant, while two are based in Castlebar.
There are three staff working in the Chief Whip's constituency office, one of whom is a civil servant based in Dublin, while the other two are based in Enniscorthy.
The staff working in the constituency office of the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, which is based in my Department, are paid for by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The staff consist of one personal secretary and two clerical officers.
The cost of supporting constituency offices for my Department during the first 100 days following my appointment is approximately €134,000. This comprises salary costs of €122,884, postal and telecommunications costs of €1,544, office equipment and supplies costing €8,320 and travel and subsistence costs of approximately €1,000.
In comparison with the last Administration and its 2009 figures, there are now seven fewer staff working in the private offices and constituency offices of my Department. This also represents a 26.7% reduction in costs.
The staff of my private office, which includes civil servants and personal assistants, provide ongoing administrative support to me across the whole range of my functions. The five staff in my constituency office are responsible for dealing with any constituency matters and correspondence.
The following table provides details of the numbers employed and salary levels in my private and constituency offices
|
Number |
Grade |
Pay |
|
Private Office |
||
|
1 |
Private Secretary (HEO) |
€46,426 to €57,251 |
|
1 |
Assistant Private Secretary (HEO) |
€43,816 to €55,417 |
|
1 |
Assistant Private Secretary (EO) |
€29,024 to €45,616 |
|
4 |
Clerical Officers |
€23,177 to €37,341 |
|
1 |
Clerical Officer |
€22,015 to €35,515 |
|
1 |
Personal Assistant |
€75,390 |
|
1 |
Personal Assistant |
€64,750 |
|
1 |
Personal Secretary |
€40,233 |
|
Constituency Office |
||
|
1 |
Executive Officer |
€29,024 to €45,616 |
|
1 |
Personal Assistant |
€64,257 |
|
1 |
Personal Assistant |
€64,257 |
|
1 |
Personal Assistant |
€66,519 |
|
1 |
Personal Secretary |
€40,233 |
Note: Some of the civil servants working in my private office receive allowances in addition to their basic salaries in accordance with normal Civil Service rules.
On 23 February 2011, two days before the general election, the Taoiseach claimed Ireland could not afford Ministers to be doing constituency work in their first 100 days in office and that he would ban them from doing so if elected. There was no small print or qualification to this claim. Characteristically, the Taoiseach patted himself on the back for making such a bold promise.
We now learn from several parliamentary questions that the Taoiseach never had any intention of carrying out this commitment. On taking office, he and his Ministers immediately hired over 60 people to do constituency work, spending approximately €750,000 in their first 100 days.
Can we have a question, please?
They were already there when we took office. We actually reduced the numbers.
If the Ministers of State are included in this, over €1 million has been spent.
Without using his usual tactic of talking about everything other than what he has been asked, will the Taoiseach explain why he made this promise and then abandoned it days after coming to office?
This is a case of changing the culture of what went on before. For Deputy Martin's information, I have spent very little time in my constituency office in the west. When I have, I have started at 7 a.m. for those who have a problem and want to see one of their local representatives. That means the early morning shift, as it were.
The Government made a decision in March 2011 that staff employed in ministerial private offices be reduced from a maximum of ten to eight while those in constituency offices be reduced from a maximum of six to four. It was also decided the staff in a Minister of State's private and constituency offices be reduced from a maximum of seven to five and a maximum of five to three, respectively, while the staff complement for a Minister of State assigned to more than one Department be reduced from a maximum of nine to a maximum of seven. In the case of more than one Minister of State assigned to one Department, it was changed from no additional restrictions to the total not exceeding four in respect of each Minister of State.
The reductions are there for all to see. We have changed the nature of the culture that existed before. When appointed to the Government, I encouraged Ministers not to go down the tunnel route of accepting the thousands of invitations they would receive. Human nature, being what it is, people will fulfil engagements of one sort or another.
Compared to previous arrangements, these reductions will make the considerable saving of €800,000 and it is a demonstration of changing both the culture and the nature of way the Government treats its duties and responsibilities.
With respect, I do not believe a judgment can be made on the basis of what passed before. It has to be based on how the majority of working people are living through this difficult time. I noticed how the leader of Fianna Fáil's question flippantly asked the Taoiseach to provide details of the cost of the staffing arrangements to him. It does not cost him anything; it is the taxpayer who pays for this.
It is ridiculous and shameful that €300,000 of taxpayers' money is spent to employ constituency workers in the Taoiseach's office. Guidelines on special advisers from the Department of Finance stipulated special advisers' pay should be brought into line with the five-point salary scale applicable to the standard principal officer position in the Civil Service, between €50,000 and €93,000. Why are two of the special advisers employed earning salaries of €168,000, nearly five times the average industrial wage and twice what was stipulated in the Department's guidelines. An gcreideann an Taoiseach i ndáiríre gur sin an sórt ceannaireachta atá de dhíth san am crua seo?
Tá a fhios ag an Teachta go bhfuil laghdú an-mhór, suas le €800,000, i leith costas a bhain leis an iar-Rialtas. Tá fhios aige go maith freisin go bhfuil an bheirt chomhairleoirí speisialta ann agus go raibh siad ag obair leis an bpáirtí agus liom féin le fada an lá. Tá a fhios aige go bhfuil caipín curtha ar thuarascáil i leith seirbhíse poiblí suas go €200,000. Tá laghdú mór ann sa dhá chás ansin i gcomparáid leis an ráta a bhí á íoc ag an iar-Rialtas. Tá laghdú de níos mó ná 27% ó thaobh costas comhairleoirí agus comhairle do Roinn an Taoisigh ná mar a bhí faoin iar-Rialtas.
Ar bhris an Taoiseach an chaidhp sin ina Rionn féin?
Could Deputy Adams ask his questions through the Chair, please?
An féidir liom teacht isteach arís?
I would like the opportunity to call Members. I call on Deputy Martin.
I do not accept that any culture has changed.
I do not want statements just questions. It is Question Time and we want to move on.
I know but I am being very brief.
I know but we need a question.
Given that over €1 million was spent by the Taoiseach, Ministers and Ministers of State on constituency work since they took office, will he confirm he would have said anything before the election to win votes and that he meant nothing then?
Deputy Martin has some neck.
If the Taoiseach was sincere about no constituency work in the Government's first 100 days——
What is the question?
——he would have ensured all ministerial staff would have been allocated to other areas in their respective Departments.
Will Deputy Martin go away about that?
If the Taoiseach had been sincere about this, he would have done what I just suggested.
Is that a question?
Yes, it is.
Taoiseach, are you sincere or not?
A Cheann Comhairle, please do not paraphrase my question. It is not your job to do that.
I want to know what question you want asked.
Deputy Martin was in power for 15 years with a gilly carrying around his briefcase. He now comes in here with his Francis of Assisi face.
What about all the consultants the previous Government used to employ?
It is not the Ceann Comhairle's job to paraphrase my question.
My job is to see the Deputy asks questions.
I asked him a question.
No, Deputy, you are making statements all the time.
I asked him if he was sincere when he made this commitment before the general election.
Deputy Martin is only whingeing.
Deputy Martin suffers from recurring political amnesia.
Amnesia.
When he sat on this side of the House, he always dismissed every issue that was raised with the disregard of those who become too used to the comforts of office. There are no such comforts applicable here anymore.
Will the Taoiseach answer the question?
Since March my constituency office has received 18,000 items of correspondence. Are we to show the discourtesy that the Deputy's people showed?
The Taoiseach must answer.
One must have some capacity to answer people's claims.
Of course.
They know that there is a big cultural change from what applied previously.
Why did the Taoiseach make stupid promises? It was silly stuff.
As the Deputy is aware, there is no overtime payable to personal assistants in the Department of the Taoiseach, so I reject completely what he is at.
Hear, hear. Deputy Martin should be honest with himself.
The Taoiseach is wrong.
Fianna Fáil left this legacy.
It would be far better to focus now on what these people are focusing on——
Fianna Fáil's commitment was——
——which is dealing with the problems of our country and the problems of our people——
The Taoiseach never had any intention of implementing any of it.
——that we have inherited to an unprecedented degree——
This highlights his cynicism and his lack of sincerity before the election.
——from a Government that lost all regard for its capacity to do its business.
The Taoiseach made the promise. No one else did.
Deputy Martin is the one with the pious face.
I am trying to figure out how the salary cap was breached.
In the case of the two particular advisers that the Deputy mentions, these salaries are very much reduced from what applied previously.
That was not the question.
They are two people who worked in the Oireachtas for quite some time prior to coming in here. Their salary now is commensurate with their experience and the responsibilities that they carried out for many years assisting myself as Leader of the Opposition.
