Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
95. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the names and salaries of his special advisers; the salaries paid to each Minister and Minister of State in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19714/20]
View answerOn the commencement of every Dáil, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform issues guidelines setting out the arrangements for the staffing of Ministerial Offices. The appointment of Special Advisers is subject to section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997.
The Guidelines for the 33rd Dáil, which incorporate the principles of section 11 of the PMSA Act, are currently awaiting Government approval.
The appointment of individual Special Advisers is a matter for each Government Minister subject to the terms set out in the aforementioned guidelines, although the appointments are also subject to formal Government approval. At this stage, no Special Advisers have been formally appointed to my Department by the Government.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform must be notified of the rate of salary to be paid in all cases for Special Advisers; These rates will then be published on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
With regard to the salaries paid to Ministers and Ministers of State, these are publicly available at https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/salaries-and-allowances/salaries/ . For the Deputy's information, the Ministers of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation are each paid a Ministerial allowance to the value of € 38,787. These allowances are paid by my Department, in addition to the basic salary for TDs, which is paid for by the Houses of the Oireachtas, from the date of the election, subject to the TD signing the Roll of Members of Dáil Éireann within 30 days of the election. My salary is not currently paid by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
