Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I do not agree with a few of the points made by the Deputy. I did not say it was small money; I said in the overall context of a total public service pay bill of €20 billion it is important when emphasis is put on the cost of special advisers that we see that it is a very small part of the total public service operation, both in the Civil Service and the wider public service. That is a matter of fact.

I appreciate the fact that Deputy Gilmore was not a member of the Labour Party when the system started, but the first leader of the Labour Party who introduced it had more than one adviser. He had three advisers. I well remember when Deputy Gilmore was preferred with a Ministry in the then Department of the Marine, he had an adviser. The Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, is in the same position in the same Department and he does not have an adviser. The proliferation seems to be selective depending on the circumstances of who Deputy Gilmore wants to talk about.

On a wider point on pay rates, which is an important one, the remuneration is related to specific Civil Service grades. The fact that there has been an increase in the past decade is an indication of the increase in salaries that have occurred within Civil Service grades. The suggestion that they were arbitrarily increased without reference to any guideline or, as the Deputy tried to imply, were some preferential parallel arrangement is incorrect. That should not be put on the record as having any substance in fact. The positions relate to existing grades. That has always been the case. There is no change in the situation.

Deputy Gilmore suggested that it all started off with one adviser per Minister. I made the point that a predecessor of the Deputy's quite rightly had more than one adviser. Otherwise, he would not have been able to do his job in the Tánaiste's office as it was wider than simply having a ministerial job. He took on those people. I am sure he was well served by them and would regard their appointments as having been justified in all the circumstances, not because one wishes to be profligate with taxpayers' money but one needs to ensure that there is independent and other advice available within Departments. One sometimes hears from the Opposition that I listen to those in my Department and to no one else, or that I am not making any arrangements to determine the other side of the argument. No matter what way one turns it appears there is an argument to be made. That is the nature of our adversarial politics but the fact is that for the past 17 years of Government in this country we have consistently had such arrangements. I agree we must ensure that people do their job responsibly and well. They are brought in by Ministers. Their tenure is in line with the Minister's tenure. Their pay is in line with established Civil Service grades and refers to their level of responsibility or whatever workload they take on. That has been the case for successive Governments and it will probably be the case for future Governments.

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