Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Surely the Secretary General of the Department of An Taoiseach, the lead Department in government, should have known these things. My parliamentary assistant found them out in one hour by looking at comparisons and double-checking them. If I was going to employ an electrician in the morning to carry out work for me, surely I would get two quotations and have a look at the going rate for the job. This is the top job at the Department of Health.

Was there any discussion of the potential knock-on effects on the pay of other Secretaries General at any of the meetings that were held? I accept the argument that it is a very important Department - we all agree on that - but the Departments of Finance and Housing, Local Government and Heritage are now very important as well. Will the Secretaries General of those Departments, and indeed the principal officers, the next in line down the chain, have their hands out now, while the clerical officers will languish on €24,000? Were the potential knock-on effects considered?