Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They do outstanding work for the most part and must be commended. Mr. Watt correctly pointed out that the total spend in question is €4.7 million, with the numbers employed in the Civil Service at 35,000. On this basis, it is small beans. None the less, I will make a point about the work that is under way. A system such as this does civil servants a great disservice. Open to scrutiny as it is, in many cases it is subject to ridicule simply because the naming of the allowances is outdated.

I recommend that the system of rationalising pay, be it via pay bands or another agreed method, protect the earning power of people on the lowest rungs and in the middle ranks of the Civil Service. Previously, I told Mr. Watt and the Minister that any reform must have a keen eye towards equity within the system. There are significant disparities.

We can pick through each of the allowances. The delegates allowance is gone, but while the allowances for unsocial hours, watchmen, office accommodation, uniforms and so on are worthy, we must see the wood from the trees. The reformed payment system is the bigger picture.

Mr. Watt stated: "No duty-based allowance is payable to senior management such as Secretaries General or assistant secretaries".

Do we take from this that Secretaries General and assistant secretaries are not in receipt of any allowances?