Departmental Staff Promotions

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 October 2012

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Questions (44)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

44. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of staff members of his Department that have been awarded internal promotions and or additional acting up or temporary allowances to perform more senior roles since 27 March 2009; the details of the grades involved; the pre-promotion temporary acting and post promotion temporary acting pay scales; the total increase in salary payments to each staff member involved; the duration of assignments; the area to which each person was assigned; the business reasons supporting any such decision; the details of sanction received from the Department of Finance and or Public Expenditure and Reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47165/12]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Promotions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been relatively few since the introduction of the moratorium by the Government with effect from 27 March 2009, with any exceptions requiring the specific approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. In the period since then the Department’s core staffing decreased by approximately 190, or about 12%. Predictably, senior levels were most severely affected and, in the circumstances, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform recently approved the filling of some of the critical gaps that had arisen at these levels, particularly since the end of the pensions “grace period” on 29 February 2012. Details of promotions in the Department since 27 March 2009 are set out in the following table. In each case the rules of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform governing pay-on-promotion were followed in determining the new scale point and increment date.

Internal promotions since 27 March 2009

-	-	-	Internal promotions since 27 March 2009
Date	From grade / salary scale	To grade / salary scale	Assignment
01.10.2009	Counsellor €86,968 to €106,582	Assistant Secretary €131,748 to €150,712	Embassy, Seoul
01.11.2009	Counsellor €86,168 to €106,582	Assistant Secretary €131,748 to €150,712	Embassy, Dar-es-Salaam
01.12.2009	Counsellor €92,730 to €114,366	Assistant Secretary €131,748 to €150,712	Embassy, Latvia
30.03.2010	Services Attendant €20,806 to €27,376	Services Officer €20,806 to €27,739	Iveagh House
23.08.2010	Counsellor €80,051 to €98,424	Assistant Secretary €127,796 to €146,191	Anglo-Irish Division
18.02.2012	First Secretary €67,913 to €84,296	Counsellor €80,051 to €98,424	Vienna (OSCE)
03.09.2012	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Counsellor €84,132 to €103,472	Political Division
03.09.2012	First Secretary €67,913 to €84,296	Counsellor €80,051 to €98,424	Anglo-Irish Division
03.09.2012	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Counsellor €84,132 to €103,472	Trade and Promotion Division
03.09.2012	First Secretary €65,182 to €80,678	Counsellor €84,132 to €103,472	Development Cooperation Division
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €42,838 to €60,224	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Permanent Representation to the EU, Brussels
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €33,247 to €58,294	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Permanent Representation to the EU, Brussels
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €33,247 to €58,294	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Development Cooperation Division
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €42,838 to €60,224	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Embassy, Vienna
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €42,838 to €60,224	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Anglo-Irish Division
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €33,247 to €58,294	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	Permanent Mission to the UN, Geneva
12.10.2012	Third Secretary €42,838 to €60,224	First Secretary €65,185 to €80,678	IDA Ireland (secondment)

Details of the temporary acting-up allowances awarded in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the period since 27 March 2009, again with the sanction and under the pay-on-promotion rules of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, are set out in the following table.

Acting-up allowances awarded since 27 March 2009

Date	From grade / salary scale	To grade / salary scale	Assignment
21.08.2009 to date	First Secretary €67,884 - €84,296	Counsellor €80,051 - €98,424	Embassy, Beijing
02.04.2012 to date	Third Secretary €42,838 - €60,224	First Secretary €65,185 - €80,678	Political Division

A small number of temporary acting-up allowances are also awarded annually to Clerical Officers in the Passport Service who undertake supervisory duties when Temporary Clerical Officers are recruited for the peak application period or during absences of production facility supervisors.