The current Guidelines on Special Advisors provide, except in the Offices of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste where separate arrangements apply, that they are to be placed on the Principal Officer (standard) scale, which currently runs from €80,051 at the minimum to €92,672 at the maximum.
Remuneration in excess of the maximum point of the Principal Officer (standard) scale has been sanctioned by me in a number of instances based on the business case presented. In the majority of cases this has been based on evidence of higher earnings in the previous employment and the need to secure the appointment of an individual with particular skills and expertise. Details of the cases where a higher salary was sanctioned are to be found in the following table.
The combined salary rates of €681,833 for the six advisers concerned amounted to an excess of €125,801 over the cap of €92,672.
List of Special Advisers above max of PO — Feb 2012
|
Department
|
Minister/Minister of State
|
Name of Adviser
|
Sanctioned Pay Rate
|
1
|
Agriculture Fisheries and Food
|
Minister Coveney
|
Ross MacMathuna
|
€110,000
|
2
|
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
|
Minister Rabbitte
|
Simon Nugent
|
€97,200
|
3
|
Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
|
Minister Bruton
|
Ciaran Conlon
|
€127,000
|
4
|
Public Expenditure and Reform
|
Minister Howlin
|
Rónán O’Brien
|
€114,000
|
5
|
Social Protection
|
Minister Burton
|
Ed Brophy
|
€127,796
|
6
|
Transport, Tourism and Sport
|
Minister Varadkar
|
Brian Murphy
|
€105,837
|
Total
|
€681,833
|
Question No. 86 answered with Question No. 65.