Departmental Staff Remuneration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 December 2013

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Questions (345)

Simon Harris

Question:

345. Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide detail, in tabular form, any exemptions granted by his Department or any agency under his remit to the long-standing general principle of pay policy that the payment of additional remuneration to public servants for undertaking additional duties is not permitted; the additional remuneration involved in each case; the date of sanction for such additional remuneration; the rationale behind such sanction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55029/13]

Written answers

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

As the Deputy will be aware, on foot of centrally agreed arrangements, specific allowances are payable to the holders of a range of posts in the civil and public service. There are also long-standing provisions which allow for the payment of an acting-up allowance when a member of staff is required to carry out the duties of a higher grade for an extended period. The provisions governing these payments are agreed centrally by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and are implemented at local level by my Department and the bodies under its aegis.

The principle of flexibility in relation to the undertaking of additional grade-appropriate duties without additional remuneration is recognised in both the Haddington Road Agreement and its predecessors. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department was established in June 2011 and I am not aware of any arrangements being entered into by my Department, or the bodies under its aegis, that would contravene the principle whereby public servants are not paid additional remuneration for undertaking additional duties appropriate to the grade.