All political appointments to my Department in the period referred to have been made in accordance with the relevant Guidelines and Instructions on Ministerial Appointments for the 31st and 32nd Dáil.
Under the terms of the Guidelines, the role of Personal Assistants and Personal Secretaries is to provide assistance to or for the office holder who selected them for appointment.
With effect from the 32nd Dáil, Parliamentary Assistants and Secretarial Assistants are no longer employed by specific Government Departments but instead are directly employed by the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Seconded staff have generally acted as clerical and administrative support in Minister or Ministers of State constituency offices with the exception of two individuals who acted as Private Secretaries (to Minister Kelly and Minister of State English) and who were seconded from other Government Departments. Otherwise, staff working in the Ministers' departmental offices have been departmental staff and not on secondment.
In the case of Special Advisers the duties are set out in Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. The information requested as regards numbers and salary is set out in the following tables.
31st Dail (2015/2016)
Minister Alan Kelly – Political Appointments
|
Job Title
|
Grade
|
Salary Scale
|
|
Special Adviser
|
Principal Officer (Standard) Non PPC Scale
|
€75,647 – €92,550
|
|
Special Adviser
|
Principal Officer (Standard) PPC Scale
|
€79,401 – €97,194
|
|
Personal/Parliamentary Assistant
|
Personal Assistant Scale (PPC)
|
€46,016 – €59,011
|
|
Personal Secretary/Secretarial Assistant
|
Personal Secretary Scale (Non PPC)
|
€23,820 - €47,755
|
|
Civilian Driver X 2*
|
Civilian Driver Rate
|
€631.75
€665.00
|
|
Seconded Staff
|
EO Standard – Private Secretary**
|
€29,314 - €45,616
|
|
|
EO Standard x 3 – Constituency Office
|
€29,314 - €45,616
|
* The salary for Civilian Drivers was €631.75 per week. Drivers who became members of the new Single Pension Scheme were paid a rate of €665.00 per week.
**This post also carries an allowance of €19,653 per annum in respect of extra attendance etc.
In addition to the above, Minister Kelly appointed a temporary replacement in situ for one Special Adviser who was absent on unpaid long term sick leave toward the end of his term.
Minister of State Paudie Coffey – Political Appointments
|
Job Title
|
Grade
|
Salary Scale
|
|
Personal/Parliamentary Assistant
|
Personal Assistant Scale (PPC)
|
€46,016 - €59,011
|
|
Personal Secretary/Secretarial Assistant
|
Personal Secretary Scale (PPC)
|
€25,074 - €50,268
|
|
Civilian Driver X 2*
|
Civilian Driver Rate
|
€631.75
€665.00
|
|
Seconded Staff
|
CO Constituency Office
|
€21,879 - €37,341
|
* The salary for Civilian Drivers was €631.75 per week. Drivers who became members of the new Single Pension Scheme were paid a rate of €665.00 per week.
32nd Dail (2016/2017)
Minister Simon Coveney – Political Appointments
|
Job Title
|
Grade
|
Salary Scale
|
|
Special Adviser
|
Principal Officer (Standard) Non PPC Scale
|
€75,647 – €92,550
Post 1st April 2017
€77,849 - €95,487
|
|
Special Adviser
|
Principal Officer (Standard) PPC Scale
|
€79,401 – €97,194
Post 1st April 2017
€ 81,767 - €100,333
|
|
Civilian Driver X 2*
|
Civilian Driver Rate
|
€631.75
€665.00
Post April 2017
€650.92
€684.17
|
|
Seconded Staff
|
HEO Standard (PPC) Constituency Office
|
€46,081 - €58,294
Post April 2017
€47,081 - €59,294
|
|
|
EO – Constituency Office
|
€29,314 - €45,616
Post April 2017
€30,314 - € 46,616
|
* The salary for Civilian Drivers was €631.75 per week. Drivers who became members of the new Single Pension Scheme were paid a rate of €665.00 per week.
Minister of State Damien English – Political Appointments
|
Job Title
|
Grade
|
Salary Scale
|
|
Civilian Driver X 2*
|
Civilian Driver Rate
|
€631.75
€665.00
Post April 2017
€650.92
€684.17
|
|
Seconded Staff
|
HEO Standard - Private Secretary**
|
€43,816 - € 55,415
Post April 2017
€44,816 - €56,415
|
|
|
EO – Constituency Office
|
€29,314 - €45,616
Post April 2017
€30,314 - € 46,616
|
|
|
CO Constituency Office
|
€21,879 - €37,341
Post April 2017
€22,879 - €38,341
|
*The salary for Civilian Drivers was €631.75 per week. Drivers who became members of the new Single Pension Scheme were paid a rate of €665.00 per week.
**This post also carries an allowance of €19,653 per annum in respect of extra attendance etc
Minister Eoghan Murphy – Political Appointments
|
Job Title
|
Grade
|
Salary Scale
|
|
Special Adviser
|
Principal Officer (Standard) PPC Scale
|
€81,767 - €100,333
|
|
Civilian Driver X 2
|
Civilian Driver Rate
|
€684.17
|
|
Seconded Staff
|
OGP Category Specialist PPC - Constituency Office
|
€39,235 - €52,958
|
Minister of State John Paul Phelan – Political Appointments
|
Job Title
|
Grade
|
Salary Scale
|
|
Civilian Driver X 2
|
Civilian Driver Rate
|
€684.15
|
