Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be straight with the Deputy, as I always am, no such claims have been made. Whether we like the position or not, it is the case that the gifting of a portion of a person's salary, which I am happy to do because I think it is the right thing to do, is a matter for each individual. Our public servants and civil servants are entitled to gift a portion of their salary. The question of when exactly it was put in place and when it ended is not information I have or to which I would be entitled. In the first instance, an employee of a Department completes the form, which then goes through the process within that Department and is ultimately conveyed to the Department of Finance. I do not have that information, nor do I intend to seek it from any individual because it is none of my business, quite frankly. My role is to ensure we have a robust system for the recruitment and selection of people to fill key posts in the Civil Service and at senior levels across the public service. I am determined to do that. I am going to set up an independent review panel. I anticipate it will be completely removed from my Department. It will advise on the pay determination process. I note the recommendation that the Deputy and her colleagues made about reinstituting the higher remuneration review body. That is not a step I am taking now but I am going to ask the independent panel to make recommendations on what it thinks is the best course of action to arrive at decisions relating to senior pay in the Civil Service and across the public service.

I think we need to be careful what we wish for, as I said to the Deputy in November when I had an initial exchange with the committee. The higher remuneration review body was stood down in 2009. In 2007, as the Deputy knows, that body made recommendations that Secretaries General would receive pay as high as €318,000, the Taoiseach would be paid €330,000 and Ministers would be paid €280,000. If we, as an Oireachtas, absolve ourselves of responsibility and if I, as Minister, absolve myself of responsibility and completely hand over control of this matter to a third party body, we may not like the outcome. That is something we must also consider. I am not committing today to the establishment of the higher remuneration review body, which is what the Deputy has sought. We need to think this through very carefully. The external panel I am setting up will advise me in the coming months as to what it thinks is the best course of action. I will take that advice on board and make a decision.