Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The reason is that as I no longer deal with the day to day issues on Northern Ireland, I do not need as many people. I have a programme manager and three special advisers who are covered across the Department. All the staff in my constituency office, except for one junior position, are civil servants. I have given the information on press officers.

On Deputy Kenny's question, all Ministers are subject to the Department of Finance guidelines. There is one programme manager per party and one adviser per Minister. A limited number of Ministers of State, based on their responsibilities, have an adviser. The number of senior positions has been reduced quite significantly. Years ago my Department had ten contracted advisers, programme managers and special advisers, not including the special Office of the Tánaiste. During the last Government, there were 26 contracted advisers, programmer managers and special advisers across all Departments, a number of whom were seconded civil servants. The number of senior positions at present stands at 24 compared with 55 a decade ago, which constitutes a huge decrease. However, perhaps Deputy Gilmore is right and we should employ more. However, I will try to resist that.

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