The appointment of Special Advisers is subject to section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. The appointment of individual Special Advisers is a matter for each Government Minister subject to the terms set out in Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's Instructions to HR Managers – Ministerial Appointments for the 33rd Dáil Guidelines, although the appointments are also subject to formal Government approval. As permitted, two Special Advisers were appointed to my Department in September 2020.
On commencement, both Special Advisers were placed on the first point of the Principal Officer – PPC salary scale. In September 2021, both Special Advisers progressed to the second point of the Principal Officer – PPC salary scale. These pay scales include pay adjustments under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 and under Building Momentum public service agreement for 2021 to 2022.
Both Special Advisers are in the Single Public Service Pension Scheme 2013.
The salaries paid to both Special Advisers 2020 and 2021 are set out in tabular form below:
Year
|
Salaries paid to Special Advisers
|
2020
|
€51,019.03
|
2021
|
€181,291.11
|
As Chief Whip, Minister of State Jack Chambers has two Advisers, both appointments made and salaries paid by the Department of the Taoiseach.