asked the Minister for the Public Service the rank, in terms of salary in the Public Service, that compares with that of a Deputy and Senator.
Written Answers. - Pay Comparisons.
668.
There is no accepted comparision for pay purposes between TDs and Senators and ranks in the public service.
The annual allowance payable at present to a TD, £13,802, lies within the salary scale for the civil service grade of assistant principal, £12,721 to £15,107. The annual allowance payable at present to a Senator, £7,619, lies within the salary scale for the civil service grade of executive officer, £5,417 to £10,533. It might be added in this regard that the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector, who carried out a survey of the hours of work and other occupations of parliamentarians in connection with their 1972 report, concluded that it was not appropriate for them, in proposing the level of allowance for Senators, to proceed on the basis of unqualified comparisions with full-time occupations.
It is relevant, as regards level of remuneration, to add that the phased increases provided for in the Public Service pay agreement of December 1981, 2 per cent (or £4 a week, whichever is the greater) from 1 December 1981, 6 per cent from 1 March 1982 and 5 per cent from 1 January 1983, were applied to the salaries of the civil service grades referred to; they have not been applied to the allowances of TDs and Senators. Had they been, the annual allowance payable to a TD would now be £15,669 which lies between the maximum of the scale for assistant principal and the minimum (£16,370) of the scale for principal. A Senator would now receive £8,713 which lies within the scales for a number of general civil service grades i.e. administrative officers, executive officer and staff officer.