Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Public Accounts Committee

Department of Justice and Equality - Review of Allowances

12:25 pm

Mr. Brian Purcell:

The Deputy is correct. We saw a good example when one tries to look at the 13 different elements of the additional hours payment. It is an example of when one has a plethora of different allowances for different purposes covering broadly those three core areas I mentioned. I can understand how difficult it can be for an outsider and it can be difficult for an insider sometimes to grasp completely what it is. That is one of the reasons, in providing the briefing material, we tried to make it as comprehensive as possible. I very much appreciate the Deputy's compliment to the people who prepared the briefing material but it was done in that context. It is a complex area and we tried to give as much information while, at the same time, not making it too confusing. I hope we have partially got that balance right.