asked the Minister for Industry and Energy the name, rank, salary, allowances and terms and conditions of employment of advisers and assistants, other than civil servants, at present employed by him or his Minister of State.
6.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Ministerial Advisers and Assistants.
5.
asked the Minister for Industry and Energy the number of personal contract assistants employed by him and his Minister of State; the cost of each; and the overall cost to the taxpayer.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 6 together.
I appointed Mrs. Mary Shinners as my personal secretary on a salary of £130.46 per week plus an allowance of £11.00 per week. She is seconded from the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Similarly my Minister of State, Deputy Edward Collins, appointed Miss Ann Flanagan as his personal secretary on the same salary and allowance as my personal secretary. She too is seconded from the Houses of the Oireachtas. Deputy Collins also appointed Mr. Walter Morgan as his personal assistant at a salary equivalent to the maximum of the Civil Service clerical officer scale, currently £170.89 per week.
These three posts are full-time temporary appointments and will terminate not later than the date on which the present Government cease to hold office.
I have retained on a part-time contractual basis the services of Mr. Michael Kilroy, a former Clerk Administrator in the Houses of the Oireachtas, to assist me in my duties as Leader of the House. Mr. Kilroy is retained on an hourly fee basis of £5 per hour.
Could the Minister outline for me the duties of the assistant to Minister Collins? What I really want to ascertain — and I want to make it clear that I am not creating any mischief here — is whether it is proper that an assistant employed in this way should act on the Minister's behalf in his constituency——
Deputy, there are many questions remaining.
——and take advantage of the services available in his office to service the queries he receives at these meetings. In other words, what I am asking is: if the Minister is invited to a meeting in any constituency he cannot attend, is it in order that he should send his assistant along to represent him, whether that meeting be a general public one or a political meeting?
I have not got any detailed information on the work that Mr. Morgan does. I understand that it is concerned mainly with constituency work, which I believe has been the normal practice in the past, and that personal assistants of this kind would assist the Minister in constituency work. I have not got detailed information as to what precise meetings he may or may not have attended. But I do not think there is anything exceptional at all in what is being done in this case.
I totally appreciate that there is nothing exceptional in so far as the Coalition are concerned in this massive employment of assistants. What I want to ascertain from the Minister is: what are the ethics of using a paid contract civil servant in his Department to represent him at political meetings? Deputy John Kelly put the same question to us. We gave him a clear reply on what was the position. I want some clarity from the other side.
I have not got any information to that effect, as to whether political meetings have been attended by the person in question. I answered the question I was asked.
Question No. 7.
There are a number of other Ministers to whom I will put the same question as we progress through Question Time.