Ms Geraldine Tallon:

Local authorities do have common pay scales. For ease of reference for local authorities, a circular dating from 2009 includes all of the pay scales from senior executive officer, just below the director of service level at grade 8, to specialist professionals, library staff, technicians, craft workers, general operatives and water caretakers. There are standard scales for all of these pay grades in the local government system.

Of the allowances agreed locally, we have not sent approximately 161. However, we have sent 42 to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. They tend to be agreed locally and can apply in more than one local authority. If one examines them, one will see more than one local authority pays branch librarians to clean after hours, but the rates vary slightly in each local authority because they are agreed locally. It is not necessarily the case that branch librarians throughout the country have stated a desire to receive this allowance and not all local authorities have decided it is the direction in which they want to move. While certain allowances are picked up or agreed locally in one or more local authority, there has not been a drift, whereby this becomes the norm throughout all local authorities. In a number of cases the pattern of allowances has tended to evolve from particular local circumstances. To take a completely different example, if a problem arises with stray dogs in areas far from a dog pound, a number of local authorities will pay a small allowance to a caretaker or general operative to kennel the dogs overnight rather than having to travel a long distance.