20 Sep 2012, 15:21
At its meeting today, the Committee of Public Accounts agreed to seek information from all public bodies on the level of allowances paid to staff. The decision follows a request in writing from Deputy Eoghan Murphy. The payment of allowances will then form part of the examination of the accounts of these bodies when their heads appear before the Committee.
20th September 2012
Chairman of the Committee John McGuinness TD stated that the examination of these allowances and their cost will involve a more structured examination of public expenditure by the Committee. The PAC will write to all Accounting Officers seeking details of the extent of such payments, their cost, the rate of payment and the date when the payment of these allowances commenced.
Deputy McGuinness said: “As part of our examination of this issue, the Committee will meet with the Minister for Public Expenditure in early October to discuss the public service reform plan and, as part of that discussion, we will look at the process that was involved in the 2012 review of these allowances. I accept that in some cases, the term ‘allowance’ is probably inaccurate in that this extra payment should be part of core pay and, where that is the case, the Department should recognise that and revise the pay levels appropriately. In other cases however, the original justification for paying an allowance may no longer apply and we need first of all to identify these historic type payments and secondly to hear from the heads of Departments as to why these allowances should continue to be paid.
“The Committee of Public Accounts can do a very good job for the taxpayer by putting all allowance payments under public scrutiny and that is what we intend to do on a case by case basis. It was this Committee that shone a light on the practice of paying up to one year’s salary to medical consultants for untaken rest days. In a report which the PAC will produce in the coming weeks, we will make recommendations that will eliminate that practice.”
The Comptroller and Auditor General informed the Committee that his Annual Report on the Accounts of the Public Service 2011 will be published on Thursday 27th September. This Report will determine a large part of the work programme of the PAC for the remainder of 2012 and for 2013.
Ends
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Communications Unit,
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Committee of Public Accounts
Membership
John McGuinness (Chairman)
Kieran O’Donnell (Vice Chairman)
Paul J Connaughton,
John Deasy,
Paschal Donohoe,
Gerald Nash,
Simon Harris,
Michael McCarthy,
Mary Lou McDonald,
Sean Fleming,
Eoghan Murphy,
Derek Nolan,
Shane Ross