In the case of all resignations and retirements from office that took place during my term of office at the Department of the Taoiseach and agencies under its aegis, the relevant terms of the legislation were abided by and any settlements made, either in terms of the basic provision for lump sums for years of service, added years or whatever, were in accordance with the legislation.
There is no current legislation which deals with the position of temporary civil servants and those engaged in political advisory work. There were a number of resignations in that category during the early days of my term as Taoiseach. These included those who had been associated with the previous Administration. The severance arrangements for those people are not provided for in law because there is no legal basis for temporary civil servants. However, it is the intention of the Government to make such provision in forthcoming legislation.
Deputy Harney appears to consider that we do not have sufficient power in the area of dismissal of officials or that the terms are too generous in respect of the dismissal of officials. The Deputy and her party will have an opportunity to put their views forward in the debate on the Minister and Secretaries legislation which will come before the House in due course.