Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I have not yet had the opportunity to digest that matter but the chapter headings show that the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is within the scope of the report.

Deputy Creed raised a number of issues. This has been a very constructive debate so far. In regard to ministerial pay, Ministers are the only people who have taken a voluntary pay cut as an absolute and general class in the House. I am not making a great virtue out of this, but that is the position, and that was done after the budget in October last year. Ministers, like Deputies, were subjected to the pension levy. Because it is a voluntary surrender, it does not affect pension entitlements. Government has established a commission on higher level remuneration that will look at all the higher level payments. We discussed that during the debate.

Regarding the options for secretarial assistance available to Ministers, the Oireachtas Commission treats all Members of the House equally. When the arrangement was put in place for Deputies to have a second secretary there were other options available to a Deputy. The Deputy had the option of having a secretarial assistant or of sharing a very high-powered adviser with another Deputy - I do not think anyone has ever availed of that option. There was also the option of vouching a sum, approximately equivalent to the value of a secretary, for definitive secretarial expenses. That option is also available to Ministers, as is the option of a much smaller sum, but with the special secretarial allowance. There are various options available to Ministers.

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